Seven Years Of Bad Luck
by a basket full of flowers
Summary: The story of a girl with knowledge of the future, a witch for a mother, and a bunch of ghosts following her. (This is how it begins: she wakes up in some dark place, hurt and alone, and then learns that the whole world has shifted without her knowledge... or perhaps, she was the one to shift in between worlds.)
1. beginning of good luck?

CHAPTER ONE:  
the beginning of good luck...?  
_

She could barely feel anything: from the numbness of her fingers, to the ice in her chest. It was hard to even distinguish the steady pumping of blood in her veins from the shortness of her breath.

There was something pressed on her back, she could tell. The pressure seemed to vary from one second to another. She could also hear the faint, muted sound of a voice - or maybe two of them.

Someone said something, although she could only hear a few words: "Are... sure... big... -ther? We're in... sight! If we are... people will... we're creeps!" The person's voice kept fluctuating from a high pitched, nervous voice, to a lower, mumbling voice.

Someone else, whose voice was deeper and a lot more cynical, chuckled. "Don't worry... will see."

A grunting noise from the other voice was the only response.

Something took hold of her shirt (or maybe it was a sweater?), and began pulling her up. She let out a pathetic sound, but didn't bother trying to open her eyes. Almost immediately though, the person holding her let go, and her forehead hit the ground with a dull thud.

"He-hey, is she- is she awake?" the first man asked, a tremble in his voice.

"Who cares!" the second, abrasive man snapped. "Look, just move! I'll do it!"

He must have shoved the other man, because there was a startled squeak, and then hands roughly grabbed her by the arms.

"Don't- don't hurt her... It'd already be hard enough to get away with theft if we get caught, so if they see us hurting her..."

"Shut up." The second man began the process of rolling her over. "We can always say we're searching for an ID or a phone to call her parents." Suddenly, as he finally managed to put her face up, he froze. "Wait."

"W-what is it?"

There was a moment of cold anger, ready to explode.

"You told me she was a teenager!" the abrasive man exploded, letting go of her arms. "That's a little girl!"

A startled squeak, and some shuffling clothes noises later, and the first man whimpered out: "No... no! I, I swear she was supposed to be a teenager! I checked, I swear!"

"Well," the second man's voice had gotten cold with fury, "apparently, you didn't do well enough. You know I don't do this shit to grade schoolers. Only thirteen and above with me."

"I-... brother... I... But, look at her clothes...!"

"Shut... UP!" the second man's breathing had become ragged, now. "We have to go. She's already on the verge of waking up."

"I, I already took some of her things though...!"

"Whatever! Let's just go, you stupid...! Ugh." A sigh. "Just, hurry up."

"G-got it!"

There was a lot of cloth ruffling then. She could hear some whispers from the men, but couldn't figure out what they were saying exactly.

"HEY!"

Was someone else here? Why had they screamed like that...?

"Shit!" The ruffling from the men came tenfold, as a new set of footsteps came running toward them. "Go! Go!"

The two ran away, the sound of their footsteps rapidly disappearing, while the new person came to a stop next to her prone form. It took a moment for them to catch their breath.

"Hey, little girl... are you alright?" the person - a young male, going by his voice - asked, crouching down next to her. He took her pulse, pressing his (rather cold) fingers against her neck.

She feebly tried to open her eyes, but then gave up; it was much too bright for her taste.

"Aren't your clothes a bit too large?" he asked, sounding puzzled. "Your pockets are empty, too... Hey, little girl, are you awake?"

She forced herself to make a small noise in the back of her throat.

"Are your eyes hurt?"

She huffed, and tried to open her eyes once more, but only managed to open them a bit. Because the light burned her eyes, though, it took her quite some time to open them even only half of the way.

"I'm gonna call the police, alright? Do you need an ambulance, too? Blink once for yes, and twice for no."

Even as she blinked once, she hesitated. Did she really need an ambulance? Apart from the pain in her eyes and the numbness spreading in her whole body, she couldn't decern anything that spelled trouble.

The teenager must have taken it as is, because he instantly called an ambulance.

She rolled her head to the side, trying to focus her sight on the person who was helping her: it appeared to be a teenager with fair skin and short, brown hair. Her vision was swimming, though, so it was hard to really discern anything specific.

Relying heavily on her arms and elbows, she pushed herself into a sitting position, the teenager helping her along the way, while still talking on the phone.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was surprised to find that her throat was dry as the desert, and ended up coughing her lungs out. She could also taste something in the back of her throat - something akin to blood, but with the texture of flour.

"Are you alright?" the teenager asked, gently rubbing her back. "Don't force yourself to talk."

She nodded slowly, and slumped against the teenager's side. Now that she was more aware of her own body, she noticed everything hurt like hell: burning, prickling, and a searing pain in the small of her back.

Black was starting to edge on her vision.

"Don't worry," the teenager said suddenly, voice soft but concerned, "help is on the way."

She looked up at the teenager, but was still unable to say anything. She wanted to ask for help - but, help was already on the way, wasn't it?

She let out a slow breath, curled onto herself a bit more, and fell asleep.

—

Waking up was an adventure on its own.

Now that her head was clear, Ada could see the situation she was in: she had woken up in some dark place, hurt and alone, with someone going through her pockets.

But the worst was that... she couldn't remember anything about herself - oh, well, that was an exaggeration. She could remember her name — or at least what she thought was her name, but maybe it was the name of someone else — her gender, and that she was probably about 16 — maybe two years younger or older?

The thing to keep in mind here was... she was sure— _**100% sure**_ , that she was above 12. And yet...

Judging by the look of her little hands, she was in the body of a child, a little girl who looked to be 10 years old at the very most. But it didn't make sense! It just didn't! It couldn't!

How could she be kindergarten-age when she could remember what middle school was like...?

Not only that... She hadn't really been able to see much, but... her reflection in the mirror... didn't look like her at all.

To be entirely honest, it looked like nothing human. At first, Ada had thought that the mirror was broken, but upon closer inspection, the glass itself was fine, and only her reflection was broken up into shards — the reflections of the sink and the shower were completely fine. However, as soon as she stepped into view of the mirror, it seemed like the glass fragmented, splitting up.

Ignoring how eerie that looked, Ada had spent hours trying to determine what her face looked like. She couldn't remember _what_ she looked like, but she just knew that she did **not** look like that. Her face was all wrong — a spot of freckle that she was sure hadn't existed, the softness of her cheeks, the round shape of her chin... even the color of her hair (a sandy blonde) wasn't right!

Was she in someone else's body? Had she stolen a little girl's body?

There was the mystery of her circumstances, too. What had happened, that night, when those two guys had been going through her pockets? Why had her body hurt so much? Obviously, something supernatural was going on. Forgetting the whole misplaced body event, her shattered reflection spoke of something greater than just amnesia.

"You were found on the streets," a rather unsympathetic nurse told her. "I'm sorry to say, sweetheart, that you will have to go to an orphanage as soon as you get better."

Ada tried to ignore those words, because their meaning made her too angry, too sad. She couldn't possibly think of the orphanage.

Instead, she spent her days staring out the window, thinking about the cool of fresh air in her lungs and the warmth of the sunlight on her skin.

And every night, Ada inexplicably thought of the sea that stretched until the horizon, of the sound of the shore, of the waves that lulled her to sleep, and of the sound of shattering glass.

—

"Little girl, there's a man for you here," a nurse told her, a few days later, sotto voce. "He claims to be your uncle. He's come with social service. Are you alright with them coming in?"

She blinked in surprise. An uncle? She didn't remember ever having an uncle: as far as she could recall, her mother had only had a sister, and her father had been an only child. But then again, her memory was a little bit fuzzy — scratch that, a _lot_ fuzzy.

"Sweetheart?"

"They can—" She cleared her throat. "They can come in, I guess," she said, fingers finding the cover over her lap.

The nurse smiled sweetly, nodded, and walked out, leaving the door open.

Seconds later, a tall, lean man entered the room, his face set in a cool but welcoming smile. He seemed to have been wisened by age, his hair going grey in some places, and smile wrinkles forming around his eyes.

Behind him came a young woman, her hair tied in a neat bun, and rectangular glasses perched on her nose. Going by the files in her hands, she was the social service lady. The black and white of the man's suit clashed with the bright colors of the young woman.

"Good morning, young lady," the woman greeted her, smiling begningly. "My name is Hitoshi Ema. How are you doing?"

"I— I'm fine," she said, eyes stuck on the man.

He wasn't looking, though. Instead, he had gone to close the door behind them. For now, his back was turned toward them. When he turned, he caught her eye, and gave her a secretive smile. Fondness was evident on his face.

"Now, Kotone-san," Ms Hitoshi said, turning to the man. "How about we—"

The man, Mr Kotone laid a hand on her forearm. "There is absolutely nothing I need to prove," he said softly, looking at the lady in the eyes with his own sorrowful gaze. "Her name is Kotone Nana, and she is my sister's daughter, isn't she?"

There was a pause, as the miss looked at him, brows furrowed. "It isn't that simple, Kotone-san. We haven't found any papers indicating she indeed is your niece so—"

"Isn't she?"

"I—" Ms Hitoshi began, but it was as if a switch had been flipped. Her eyes were blank and unfocused, staring at the man.

" _Isn't she?_ "

There was a moment of silence — terrifying for Ada, and very much telling for the situation.

"Well?" Mr Kotone raised a brow. "Am I right or wrong?"

"You're right," Ms Hitoshi said slowly, her eyes almost closing. "I need... to go... I will fix... the files for you..."

The social service agent slowly got up, and stumbling to the door, but Ada was too frozen to do anything but stare at the empty spot she had been in.

As soon as the lady left the room, the man turned toward her, face going back to being impassive. He sat on the chair at her bedside.

"Pack up your things, dear," he said curtly, turning back toward the door. "I think we have wasted enough time as is."

Ada stayed frozen, though. "W-what did you do to her?" She chanced a quick glance at the closed door, wondering if she could make a run for it. That man couldn't possibly hurt her, could he? She was only a child — well, at least, she was one to his eyes.

The man paused, slowly facing her, a furrow to his brows. "What do you mean?"

"Miss Hitoshi... why did she— I mean." Ada looked for the right words, too afraid she would anger the man. He seemed calm enough, but... she couldn't know for sure. "How did you do that? That thing with the eyes and the hands and—and, the blank gaze."

"You do not know?"

"Well," Ada said slowly. "I... guess not."

His face was set halfway into horror and halfway into stone. The almost warm behaviour had disappeared suddenly. "Little girl," it sounded like he was swallowing a lemon, "can you tell me what your real name is?"

Ada's heart stuttered to a stop.

So he knew that her name wasn't Nana, which meant he couldn't have possibly mistaken her with whoever Nana was. Or maybe... he thought she was Nana, but questioning him about the _magic trick_ with the agent had made him realize she wasn't really Nana. Was it some kind of family secret?

No wait, he wasn't supposed to be her uncle, right? At least, that's what she had gotten out of his conversation with Ms Hitoshi.

"I... I'm..." She took a grounding breath, little fingers gripping the blanket over her lap. "Who are _you_?"

Was he Nana's uncle? No, that couldn't be. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to do that _thing_ with the agent. "You're not my uncle, are you?" but, even she said this, she felt a knot settle in her throat - what if he indeed _was_ the uncle of the girl that had previously inhabitated this body? Had she just stolen this little girl from this man?

"I see," and the man looked remorseful now, eyes half-lidded and mouth set in a scowl. "It is not your fault, I suppose," he said, almost to himself, after gathering his words. "Don't worry about me. I believe you are old enough to take care of yourself, after all. Me fostering you will only serve to get authorities off your back."

Ada felt her whole body freeze, and she slyly peeked at the man from below her lashes. "I, I don't underst— I'm only seven," she attempted, trying to sound convincing, although she was sure that the tremble in her voice betrayed her.

"Nana..." his soft, almost regretful tone caught her off guard, and he must have noticed, because he suddenly regained his previous coldness. "There is no need to hide the truth from me, child. I can see it in your eyes; you are long since past seven." There was a twitch of his lips, as if he had been about to say more, but had restrained himself at the last moment — and a flash of misery and grief flashed accross his face.

She just— she just couldn't figure it out! Who was this man? Why was he watching her with those eyes? His behaviour, which at the beginning had been warm, relieved, and almost fond, had gone cold and closed off as soon as she had asked him who he was. What was so important about it? Had they met each other before?

"You will come to my home, and from today onward, you live with me. My personal maid will take care of the cleaning and cooking. You are permitted to ask her for anything you wish, as long as you do not keep her from doing her work. Curfew is at midnight. If you need something, ask the maid." He paused, and let out something that sounded like a sigh through his nose. "We shall depart soon. Prepare your suitcase."

"I, I don't have anything," she admitted, a bit shamefully, though she was mostly just befuddled. What a turn of event! Was he gonna lecture her about manners too?

His brows furrowed, looking a bit puzzled. "Not even a phone?"

She shook her head. "May-maybe I had one? But, um, if- if I had one, then I think someone stole it from me... I, I mean, when I first woke up, there was someone — a pair of brothers, I think — going through my pockets, so I don't really know—" she cut herself off abruptly, realizing she had begun rambling, and flushed.

"I will see about getting it back," he said curtly, and took a few steps toward the door. "Let's get going, then."

"Ri-right." She jumped to her feet, and began following the man... Was it a good idea, though? Maybe he was going to kill her. Going from how easily her had tricked the social service agent, she was pretty sure he could just as easily trick or charm her. She... didn't even know his full name.

She glanced back at the room she had slept in for the past few days. No going back, now... or, well, if things didn't go as planned, she could always just run away. As a child, while she was powerless in some ways, she also had the power of being, well, powerless. People would want to protect a child, especially one as helpless as herself.

Oh well, she could focus on escape plans later, if it came to it.

—

Outside the hospital, a sleek black car waited for them. A pretty young woman with dark hair pulled back in a high ponytail was at the wheel, greeting them with a nod. She was wearing sunglasses, too.

The man opened the passenger door for her, and then climbed to sit next to the driving lady. It seemed to surprise her, too.

Ada stopped focusing on them, and instead began staring out the window, watching the buildings pass by with wistfulness. At each Japanese word, she couldn't help but be reminded that she was far, far away from home. But where was home, in the first place?

Eventually, after what seemed like an hour ride, they pulled to a stop.

The pretty woman — the maid? — opened the door for her. The man had already left the car, seemingly walk-running to the... the... Was that a _mansion_?! God, what kind of person was this Mr Kotone?!

"The master is going to his office," the pretty woman told her, though Ada barely heard her, too busy gaping at the mansion.

It seemed quite old, and yet intact. There were vines growing on the walls, giving it a nice natural and rustic feel. There seemed to be a grand garden on the side of the mansion, with beautiful, regal flowers — tall bushes serving as both a fence and a labyrinth; white, pink, and red roses; a white marble summerhouse. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.

Was she really gonna live here? Ada swallowed nervously, and glanced at the pretty maid.

But the pretty woman only tilted her head. "Shall we?"

Indoors, the mansion was just as expensively furnished as the garden. Most of the decorations looked rather rustic, and even the modern technology looked... well, old. The TV was a large, square box.

"Do you wish to visit your room?" the maid asked.

Ada nodded, speechless.

Ada's bedroom was on the first floor. There were windows in the hallways, and Ada spent her time staring out of it. The garden seemed beautiful. Could she go there later?

"This will be your bedroom from now on, young mademoiselle," the maid said, pushing the door open.

Her room was quite large, not unlike the rest of the mansion. The walls were a pale pink — or maybe it was salmon? — and the floor covered in varnished floorboards. A large window gave into the garden, with a few potted flowers on the outer edge of the window. There was a large bed in the corner of the room, along with a nightstand at the bed's side.

Quite surprisingly, the whole room was clean, not a spot of dust to be seen. Or maybe it wasn't that surprising. The whole mansion seemed to be spotless.

Was she really allowed to sleep here? Nana voiced her thought to the pretty maid.

The maid nodded, not a hint of emotion on her face. "Of course, young mademoiselle. _Master_ ," strange, how she said it in English, while she said _mademoiselle_ in French, "only wants the best for you."

"Uh huh," Ada said, unconvinced. With the way he had locked himself up in his office as soon as they had gotten here, that man probably wouldn't talk to her much. "Thank you, miss."

The maid didn't answer for a moment. "... _miss_..."

Judging by the soft tone of her voice, Ada wasn't supposed to have heard that. She pretended she hadn't.

"I," she paused, took a deep breath, and tried not to think about what had happened until now. She failed. "I, I think I need some time. I'm sorry. Is it alright if, if— I need to get used to this room, you know? Please."

The maid nodded, going back to being stiff. "Of course."

"Will I be able to go to the garden later?" she asked hopefully.

"You are allowed to go anywhere, except the master's office," the maid said. She took a few steps back, and nodded once more — or was that a nod-bow? "I will be in the kitchen or the living room. I will call you once it is dinner time."

"Thank you," Ada said.

"Of course." The maid pulled the door close.

Ada waited until the sound of footsteps had disappeared, and slumped on the bed.

—

That evening, Mr Kotone stayed holed up in his office, the maid looked at her silently, and Ada ate alone.

This was... an incredibly lonely house.

At least, the garden was lovely.

(And that night, as every night before, Ada was once more lulled to sleep by the sound of the sea, the shattering of her reflection, and the memory of a hand through her hair.)

—

"Miss?" Ada called, two days later.

The maid, who until now had been busy cooking dinner until now, turned toward her, eyes still hidden behind her (honestly rather pretty) sunglasses. "Yes, young mademoiselle?"

"Um, I was wondering..." she paused, asking herself whether the question needed to be asked — it seemed so obvious, that it would be idiotic to even wonder about that. "When- when will I be going to school?"

The maid didn't say anything for a moment. "It is as you wish, young mademoiselle."

"Um," Ada managed, unable to really say anything more. _She_ got to choose?

Her first instinct was to refuse going to school ever again (god, what a nightmare it was, sometimes... she didn't even have her friends, here), but on second thought... She was declared to the social services, right? If she didn't go to school, then they would notice, wouldn't they? She didn't really have a choice, then. Was this some kind of test?

"I, I'll be going to school," she said decidedly, crossing her arms, redaying herself for any opposition.

The maid nodded, "I will inform the master." She turned back to her chopping.

Ada deflated, and nodded glumly.

That evening, as the maid tucked her in, she told her, "You will be starting kindergarten next week. The master was very surprised by your want to go to school once more."

"Once more?" Ada repeated, surprised. Was there a possibility that he knew that she really wasn't a little girl?

The maid nodded, but didn't say more on the matter, only wishing her a good night.

But no matter how much she tried to reassure herself, Ada had a hard time falling asleep that night.

—

Going to school was stressful.

Just the thought of actually going set a tight ball of nerves into her stomach, and made nausea rise up her throat. She could sense— she could _feel_ that school had hurt her before, but she could not, for the life of hers, figure out what had possibly happened to her.

 _It's only kindergarten_ , she told herself, _there's no need to be stressed out. There are only children, and even if you do something stupid, they will just forget about it, anyway. Children make mistakes all the time. It's fine._ But even so, she couldn't help but be nervous about it all.

The school itself was quite big — or maybe it was small in Tokyo standards — with beige walls and trees littered about the schoolyard.

The maid left Nana ( _for, from now on, everyone would call her Nana, wouldn't they? was Ada even_ _ **her**_ _name?_ ) at the entrance. "I will come back once school ends. If you need me, don't hesitate to call me." She pushed her pretty sunglasses up, and smiled gently (and prettily).

Nana had half the mind to ask her to stay, but squared up her shoulders, and nodded. "See you, pret— um," she couldn't possibly call her 'pretty maid,' or 'maid,' could she? Had she missed her chance to ask for her name? "See you later, nee-chan."

"Nee-chan...?" the maid repeated, sounding startled but pleased. The newly dubbed Sister ducked her head, and smiled to herself. "Of course, young mademoiselle."

Sister waved at her as she drove away. Nana waved back, for as long as the car was in view.

She entered the school, but didn't go to an adult immediately, wondering if it really was alright for her to be there without an adult — wasn't her guardian supposed to sign papers, or at least accompany her?

She went to what she thought was her classroom, and looked inside.

There was a group of young girls playing in the corner of the room, chattering noisily, waving their crayons around. Nana wondered if she should join them — if she didn't, then would she be rejected from the class as a recluse?

Most of the girls were brunettes, with bright smiles, and even brighter clothes. They seemed like quite the cheery bunch.

One girl in particular caught her eye; another dark haired young girl, with a bright yellow hairband. Something about her just... reminded her of someone else. Nana couldn't possibly tell who it was, but it was just on the tip of her tongue.

There was another group, though this time it was a mix of boys and girls. They seemed to be playing a board game. Once more, two children caught her attention; two boys: one with freckles and a somewhat nerdy look overall, and the other a rather large boy with a strange hole in his buzzcut.

Didn't they seem familiar...?

"Kotone-chan...?"

Nana jumped, but before she could turn around, someone put a large hand on her shoulder.

"Kotone-chan," a rather young lady said, "you're not supposed to enter yet. We have to introduce you to the class."

"Oh," Nana said, a bit put out.

"Come on, Nana-chan," the teacher (?) said, encouraging her out of the class. "We'll get you introduced properly."

She looked back at the kids that had caught her eye, and gave an innocent look at the teacher. "Will they introduce themselves too?"

The teacher looked a bit surprised, but smiled. "If you want them to."

Ten minutes later found her standing outside the classroom, door open, waiting for the moment the teacher would call her name.

"Now, children," the teacher was saying, "I have an announcement today! Guess what? We will be welcoming a new friend!" As the children cheered, the teacher turned toward the open door. "Nana-chan, why don't you come in?"

Nana, feeling a bit ridiculous for finding children intimidating, waddled inside, looking at the cheering children with wide eyes. She suddenly found her throat tight.

Children were too... too happy, too innocent, too pure. She was afraid of disappointing them.

As she reached the center of the board, the teacher put both hands on her shoulders. "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class, Nana-chan?"

"I..." She swallowed, and nodded. "My name's Kotone Nana! It's nice to meet you!" She bowed lowly, clumsily, clamping her eyes shut.

When she straightened again, the children were still smiling. "Nice to meet you, Nana-chan!" they said as one.

God, that was so cute.

"Why don't we all introduce ourselves to Nana-chan?" the teacher said, smiling. She gave Nana a soft, reassuring look - probably in response to Nana's overwhelmed face. "My name is Makoto Nanami. See? We almost have the same name! I like reading and paper cutting. What do you like to do, Nana-chan?"

"Um..." Something suitable for kids, quick! "I— I like origamis and... flowers...?" _Origami?_ Nana screamed at herself. _Why did you say that? You've never done a single origami in your whole life!_ At least the flowers part had been deemed true so far — the garden had fascinated her.

"That's great, Nana-chan!" the teacher clapped her hands, and looked at the student on the first row closest to the door. "Takeshi-kun, why don't you begin?"

"Yes!" Takeshi got up, and began talking, but Nana was only half listening.

She had never expected this to be so... so overwhelming! She could barely keep up. It was nothing that unusual, really, but...

"My name's Yoshida Ayumi!" the girl that had caught her eye exclaimed, suddenly catching her attention. "I like cute animals and drawing!"

Nana tried to hide her surprise. Ayumi! And she truly looked like the Yoshida Ayumi of _DCMK_! Wow.

She looked at the boys that had caught her attention, and to her immense surprise, they did look like Genta and Mitsuhiko.

 _No way!_ Nana thought, a bit incredulous. They definitely were the Detective Boys! Even without Conan and Haibara, they were unmistakable! Was it just a crazily well-done, dedicated cosplay?

Or... it was hard to think, and even harder to take seriously, but could she possibly have been... transported into the world of Detective Conan?

But it wouldn't be that surprising, would it? In the first place, it was already surreal enough that she was in the body of a strange child — not counting the fact that she could barely remember anything about herself. What was being sent to another world compared to that?

She couldn't be sure just on that, though.

Maybe she could ask them...?

No, of course she couldn't. If they were indeed only dedicated cosplayers, she would seem insane — though maybe she could then blame it on childish innocence and naivety. And if they were the real deal... then they'd question how she knew their futures.

And how would she excuse that, then? She couldn't possibly say anything about what had happened to her, but...

She guessed only time would tell... or maybe she just had to investigate further.

For now, she had to concentrate on the introductions. It'd be pretty badly-seen if she didn't even remember it, right? She had been the one to ask for it after all.

—

That evening, Nana ate at the dinner table, with Sister sitting at her side, and Mr Kotone locked up in his office once more.

The TV was on. Nana put it on the news channel, hoping to catch a hint about her theory.

She must have been the luckiest person alive in that moment, because just as the news channel turned on, a new headline appeared: _High School Detective of the East strikes again!_

"The High School Detective of the East, Kudo Shinichi, has once again helped the police force solve a new murder case," the news lady was saying, smiling at the camera.

"Oh!" Nana accidentaly let out, surprised.

"Miss?"

"Um," she floundered, "he's, uh, pretty young." She fidgeted with the cutlery. "He's only in high school, right?"

"Indeed. Kudo Shinichi is a high school student who helps the police solve cases in his spare time. He has been solving cases for some time, but has yet to give a false deduction. People have been saying that he is the modern Sherlock Holmes!" She was smiling, now.

"Huh." Nana blinked at Sister, startled. "You like mystery stories, nee-chan?"

Sister paused, and flushed, straightening her sunglasses, turning away. "I..."

Oh no. If the pretty maid got flustered, then she wouldn't feel free to talk to her anymore! Quick, _quick!_ Think of something to say!

"I think it's cute!" she blurted out, which was, well, not what she was going for, but it was better than nothing. "It's cute when you get passionate. I think it's really nice."

The pretty, blushing maid(en) gaped at her. "Young mademoiselle..." She slowly smiled, shoulders relaxing. "Thank you, young mademoiselle." She looked at Nana's empty plate. "Do you wish for dessert?"

—

 **AN:** Thank you for reading.  
This chapter has been edited (11th April 2018). Changes made: shattered reflection in the mirror, Ms Hitoshi gained a name, some dialogue added to Mr Kotone's _magic trick_ , longuer description of the mansion, "Nee-chan" changed to "Sister."


	2. a plethora of people

CHAPTER TWO:  
a plethora of people  
or, the maid, the uncle, the friends, the detective and the outsider  
_

Nana knew her time was limited.

As far as she could remember, Conan became a kindergarten student a bit into the year (hadn't Ran said something about Shinichi not joining clubs — most specifically the football club — that year? Joining clubs surely took a while). This meant, considering the year had already begun, that she had very little time.

But where could she possibly begin?

Honestly, she could barely remember anything about the beginning of DCMK. There was the Moonlight Sonata case, of course — how could she forget? — but what else? Did Akemi come now, or later? She couldn't place it.

But how could she possibly do anything if she didn't remember anything about the timeline. Or, well, she could do something, but it would be incredibly hard, wouldn't it?

Aah... it was so hard to know the future. She'd rather know her past.

—

Two days later, as she was slowly and painstakingly making a flower origami — a water lily, Nana suddenly remembered that she still didn't know Mr Kotone's full name.

Could she ask Sister about it? Surely, she wouldn't refuse to answer. It was understandable that she didn't know, right?

Or... maybe it wasn't. Maybe Nana and Mr Kotone were supposed to be close; maybe the Kotone family was supposed to be close-knit.

But Mr Kotone knew that Nana wasn't really Nana, didn't he? He had told her that he knew that her real name wasn't Kotone Nana, so he _must_ know. He shouldn't be that surprised that she didn't know his full name, then.

Could she ask Sister about _Sister_ 's own name, too? Up until now, Nana had felt too... perhaps impolite. Wasn't it supposed to be the first thing you asked of someone? The maid— Sister had probably already assumed that Nana knew her full name.

Just the thought of asking her made Nana flush a deep red. This situation was just ridiculous.

But then again, Sister was too kind to refuse to answer, wasn't she? Even if she sometimes seemed apathetic, Sister had proved to be the kindest person in Nana's life as of now. She reminded her of, well, of someone that might have been _Ada_ 's mother. Or sister.

"You seem troubled."

"Eek!"

Silence.

Slowly, Nana turned around, willing the horrible blush on her face away. That was just like her, too; getting so lost in thought that she forgot all about her surroundings.

"Nee-chan..." Her lips quirked up at the sight of Sister's shoulders suddenly relaxing — did the nickname really please her that much? "How... how long have you been here?"

"Since you came into this room."

"...oh." Nana hadn't seen her. "Sorry. Did I bother you?" She peered at the book in Sister's hands.

Sister flushed, and closed her book, quickly hiding it beneath the table, presumably on her lap. "Of course not, young mademoiselle. It was quite amusing to see you so profoundly in thought. You did not hear me call you the first three times."

"Uh..." Nana fiddled with the bottom of her shirt nervously. "Sorry... I'm trying to fix that. It happens from time to time." she said, even though she had no memory of that ever happening before. The lie fell easily on her tongue, though. "I just never do it consciously, so it's a bit hard."

"It's more than alright, young mademoiselle." She smiled. "Now, can I help with whatever was troubling the young mademoiselle?" Going by how many times she was repeating it, Sister seemed to like saying 'young mademoiselle.'

"Ah, uh, right," about Mr Kotone's full name. "It— it's a bit silly, really. It's just that no one told me and I wasn't sure whether I was already supposed to know, but... Um... Nee-chan... could you tell me Kotone-san's full name?"

Any joy that had appeared at the mention of 'Sister' fled from her face, and Nana immediately felt she had made a mistake. Perhaps she should have waited to find out later, by herself.

" _Master_ 's full name..." once more, she pronounced 'master' in English. It usually amused her, but for once, it brought no mirth to her face. It was unfair, really; she was lovely even in her grief.

"Yes," Nana said shortly. "I'm sorry for asking." She opened her mouth, just to ask about Sister's own name, but stopped herself short. If asking about Mr Kotone brought so much sorrow... would asking her name make her cry? She'd rather not bear witness to that.

"It's... alright, young mademoiselle." Sister smiled sadly. It was a pity her sunglasses hid her eyes, or else Nana would have maybe been able to read the emotion on her face. "I'm only glad you asked me instead of _master_. If you had..." She sighed.

Nana swallowed nervously. Would Mr Kotone have gotten furious? Or perhaps...

"I'm afraid it would have broken him," Sister ended.

Or perhaps he would have cried. The image of such a seemingly strong man crying nearly shook Nana to the core. Although she could not tell why, the thought of making him (or Sister) sad made _her_ want to cry. Maybe this body was just very empathetic.

"Does he..." _like me a lot? like_ _ **her —**_ _that little girl I possibly killed — a lot? hate me for taking her place? hate me for the very fact that I exist in this world?_ It was too hard to chose, and so she fell silent.

"His full name is Kotone Saburo."

 _Saburo_... didn't that mean third son? "I see..." Nana looked down at the ground. Now that she had that information, she didn't know what to do with it.

"Is there anything else you would like to know?" Sister asked, pushing her sunglasses up her nose.

It seemed she was in a generous mood. Nana had better take advantage of that — she was too wary of people like Sister and Mr Kotone, who seemed ready to become the _wise (wo)man_ trope at any moment and begin speaking in riddles... or perhaps she had just played too many video games — or had she ever played any? Ugh, this was becoming really annoying.

Once more, Nana considered asking about her name, but shook the thought out once more.

Was there anything else? Something about this household... Sister, apart from her name, had been rather straight-forward, and as of right now, Nana didn't have any question about her. However, Mr Kotone...

"Back at the hospital... there were social services," she began, voice dropping a little, almost as if a social service agent was just around the corner, ready to take her to the orphanage at the drop of a hat.

Sister only nodded, though.

"But when... when Kotone-san—" (Sister flinched, and shook her head, looking around warily.) Nana took a deep breath, "When Un-Uncle...?" (Sister nodded encouragingly.) "Um, well, before Saburo-oji-san came into the room, the agent was telling me that I would go to an orphanage. And even when Saburo-oji-san came in and told her that he would take care of me from now on, she told him that there were many procedures and that it would take some time, but...

"I, I don't know what really happened, but... I think he did something to her, because once he touched her, she changed her mind, and said that I was free to go. It was like he had her under a spell!"

Sister nodded, looking not an ounce bothered by her explanation. "Indeed."

They looked at each other.

"Oh!" Sister suddenly exclaimed, flushing. "I had forgotten—..." She ducked her head a little, and Nana was able to catch a glimpse of long eyelashes before she straightened once more.

"My sincerest apologies, young mademoiselle. I had forgotten that you had not been made aware of our... of _master_ 's status as a, a..." For once, she seemed out of words. "Well, a wizard."

"...wizard?" Scratch thinking that Nana was crazy, _Sister_ herself was clearly the crazy one! Magic?! What else? Suddenly waking up in a child's body with no clear memory of who you really are? Ha! As if that could ever happen!

Nana deflated, and put her face behind her hands. "A wizard," she repeated, trying to ignore the bitterness in her mouth. At this point, she was 0.001% away from bursting into tears. What was a little bitterness compared to that?

"Yes. I think he'd be more pleased by the usage of the term 'magician,' however." Sister seemed quite nonplussed by Nana's reaction. "Although you are not related by blood, your relation with _master_ has given you the same ability, young mademoiselle."

"So... what you're saying is... I'm a witch?"

"Oh!" Sister flushed again. "No, no, I apologize for not explaining this clearly. You are only a child now, so rather than doing anything yourself, you will just be able to spectate, and use some magical items created by more experienced witches."

Nana stayed silent.

Perhaps misreading this as dissatisfaction, Sister hurried to add: "Of course, _master_ will gift you with any magical item of your liking!"

Nana opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it.

"...young mademoiselle?" Sister called, sounding just a tad worried. "I understand this may be a lot to take..."

A lot to take? She almost wanted to laugh. Waking up as a child murderer was just a bit higher on the hard-to-take list. And she was amnesiac too! Or perhaps she was getting a bit cynical about this whole thing.

"I'm alright," she said shortly, removing her hands from her face, and showing a small smile. "You don't need to worry about me, Nee-chan." She pressed her palms together. They'd become sweaty by now. "Do you think oji-san would accept to discuss this whole thing with me?"

"Of course—!"

"I, I just mean," her voice dropped to a whisper. "Will it hurt him if I appear to not know anything about this? I only know what you've told me so far, so it'd be a bit hard to pretend to know more, but..."

Sister gasped. "You wish to trick the _master_?"

"It's just... Isn't he so kind? Taking me in even though I wasn't..." _really Kotone Nana,_ "I wasn't quite what he expected. I want to repay him." She ducked her head. "And if it means pretending to be someone I'm not..."

"The _master_ would not want that," Sister said firmly. " _Master_ truly does love you, no matter how hard it is for him to show it."

Perhaps she would have been more inclined to think that, had it not been for... for this whole mess. For her being someone she shouldn't. There was no doubt in her mind that he had loved the original Kotone Nana, but... _she_ wasn't Kotone Nana, was she?

No. She was... Ada Howlands. Perhaps. Probably. Maybe, maybe not. Who knew?

"If you say so," she eventually said, unconvinced. "Oji-san... How can I talk to him, though? He's always in his office, and I don't want to bother him..."

"I'm sure the master will make time for you," Sister said. "Do you wish me to plan a meeting with him?"

Nana nodded sheepishly. "If it isn't too much trouble."

"Of course," Sister bowed her head.

...

The meeting was planned on the next day's morning.

Instead of welcoming them in his office as Nana had pictured, Uncle Saburo came into the living room, sitting in an armchair, while Nana sat in the couch in front of him, Sister standing by the armchair, at her master's side.

After a few pleasantries where Uncle Saburo looked uncomfortable, Nana took a deep breath.

"Can you tell me...?" she said, voice perhaps a bit too careful, fingers nervously weaved together. "About... about the girl you expected to see, that day, at the hospital."

Both Uncle Saburo and Sister froze up.

"You..." He closed his eyes, looking a bit pained. Sister had already turned her head away. "Your arrival into this world has consumed my... my dearest's daughter." The corners of his mouth were set into a definite frown, but he looked more melancholic than angry. "Do not think I blame you, my child. I know you are just as innocent as she— you are the exact copy of who she was, and yet...

"It's strange, isn't it? I had been warned, and yet... I never expected to one day meet an oblivious and ignorant Kotone Nana. Perhaps all of this could have been prevented, if I had only been more... more..." His eyes were lowered to the floor — was it shame?

"Master," Sister said softly, her fists rolled up in tight balls.

"I don't think I quite understand," Nana admitted, trying to get past the nails in her throat. "Are you saying that— the real... the real Kotone Nana..."

"There never was a real Kotone Nana."

"Huh?" She blinked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry— I, I don't follow."

"Kotone Nana never existed. It is only a new alias and identity I created for your sake, knowing that you would not like to be affiliated with... with..." _with someone who does not exist anymore_.

"I see..." Should she ask what the real Kotone Nana's name was, then? Nana looked at the both of them, and tried to understand. "It's... probably too hard to tell right now, huh?" She forced a small smile. "I understand that you are still grieving," she said softly, feeling a bit silly for stating the obvious. "Once you're ready... would you be willing to tell me all about— all about her?"

 _Uncle Saburo_ (would it hurt or heal? to hear his _dearest's daughter_ 's body call him uncle? He seemed to have wanted that role) looked at her, the emotion in his eyes indescribable.

Eventually, he huffed down on a chuckle, and closed his eyes. "Even if you aren't _my_ Kotone Nana... You should know, my child, that I could never refuse anything from you."

Huh? That was a bit surprising. She still expected him to resent her for, well, killing his 'niece.'

"Owl," Uncle Saburo said, looking directly at Sister. "Watch over her."

He stood up, and paused. It took a beat and a moment of clear hesitation on his face, but he looked at Nana, offering her a soft, loving look. "Nana... Take care of yourself, alright?"

With that, he left, closing the door behind him.

Nana and Sister looked at the closed door for a moment, both lost in thoughts.

Finally, Sister turned to look at her, the corners of her eyes uplifting. "Young mademoiselle, is there anything you wish to eat for dinner?"

Nana blinked, a bit startled, both at the sudden change of topic and the simply beautiful relief on Sister's face. "Oh... I'm fine with everything." She gave a small grin. "As long as it's edible, of course."

Silent for a moment, Sister pushed her glasses up her nose. "I cannot promise anything."

"Eh?" Nana whirled around to look at her, but Sister was already turned away, and so she was unable to tell whether this was a joke or not.

Sister had already cooked plenty of meals, but... _Should I be worried?_

( _...Her name was "Owl"?!_ )

—

That day, Uncle Saburo joined them for lunch.

"Thanks, Nee-chan!" Nana said cheerily as said maid laid her plate in front of her, but Sister's eyes were locked on Uncle Saburo, expression a bit wary.

"Nee-chan...?" he repeated, for once looking surprised. Nana had the sudden fear she had gotten the _maid_ in trouble. Was it alright for them to be friends? But Uncle Saburo only smiled, though it looked a bit sad. "I'm glad the two of you are friends."

Nana paused, looked at Sister and then back to Uncle Saburo. "Yup," she said, pride coating her voice. Becoming friends with Sister seemed like a great achievement. "Nee-chan is very kind to me!" (...even though Nana still didn't know her name. She tried to bury the guilt.)

Sister flushed, looking pleased.

"That's good," Uncle Saburo said, and left it at that.

They ate the rest of the main course in silence, the TV left on low volume. Surprisingly, Nana had no trouble reading the kanjis. She had thought that it was only a leftover from Kotone Nana's memory, but how could a kindergarten student know so many kanjis?

"Are you doing alright at school?" Uncle Saburo asked suddenly, a bit tensely, like he wasn't used to talking to young children.

"Uh huh," she nodded absentmindedly, still looking at the TV presenter. She was very pretty, too. Why was everyone pretty? "We're learning kanjis. And math, too, but it isn't as interesting."

Uncle Saburo hummed, but it seemed like there was more he wanted to say. Or hear?

She looked at Sister for help, but Sister was looking at Uncle Saburo.

"I haven't made any friends yet," Nana continued, hoping that was the right thing to do. "I don't know what to talk about. I think they like Gomera, though. And Kamen Yaiba, too."

Nana looked at Sister again, and this time, she nodded encouragingly, smiling.

"I think it looks fun, but I don't know that much about it," Nana said softly, worried it was something wrong to say. If the real Kotone Nana had liked Gomera or Kamen Yaiba...

But Uncle Saburo's face only lightened, and Sister continued to smile.

"I was thinking..." she began, looking at Uncle Saburo from the corner of her eye, waiting for a reaction. "What if we watched it together...?"

Sister closed her eyes, looking pleased. Uncle Saburo was looking at her, the corner of his eyes soft, an almost imperceptible smile on his lips. Nana didn't dare turn to look at him, only observing him from beneath her lashes.

"If it's alright with you," she said, lacing her fingers together, "I'd like... to spend more time together." At this point, she gathered her courage, and faced him.

He studied her, quiet, and smiled. "I'd like that, too," he said, voice almost fragile in its honesty.

She beamed at him. "That's great! Thank you, Saburo-oji-san! I'll have to look for the hours Kamen Yaiba is on. Gomera appears in movies, so that'll be a bit faster."

He was looking— no, _staring_ at her, and Nana belatedly realized that this was the first time she had called him Uncle aloud.

Nana continued as if she hadn't noticed. "It'd be nice if you told me when you have free time." She looked at him, but he still didn't say anything, so she prompted: "When are you free this week?"

"I—" he caught himself, and gently shook his head, eyes still wide. "I'm free whenever, but I can't stay away from work for more than three hours."

Three hours? That was a lot. She had the sudden urge to ask him what his job was, but... "That's more than enough!" she said instead, smiling. "Is tomorrow evening alright? Or we can begin now!"

She looked at Sister, considering whether she should explicitly invite her, but decided against it. She wondered if it would be alright by Uncle Saburo if Sister came — she hoped so. She couldn't imagine abandoning Sister.

"I'm free this afternoon," Uncle Saburo reassured. "But only until 10 pm. I'd rather you not be tired for school tomorrow."

"OK!" Nana sing-sang, though she felt a bit childish for being so excited for a kids movie and a kids show. Whatever, DCMK had been a 'kids show,' too, hadn't it? And yet it contained murder. Being a kids movie didn't mean anything, did it?

Plus... Ada had never watched Godzilla. Maybe Gomera would be good?

—

They spent the evening watching stupidly good Gomera movies, and they were even able to fit in one childish but amusing Kamen Yaiba episode.

Uncle Saburo kept his eyes on the TV for most of it, but Nana caught him looking at her more than once. Sister looked to be on the verge of tears, smiling so widely that it seemed to hurt.

Nana thought they both looked like they had been incredibly lonely, before. She wondered if Kotone Nana would have done a better job than her.

10 pm came faster than expected.

Uncle Saburo got up, but paused.

"Nana," Uncle Saburo said softly, catching her off guard, "if there is anything you wish to know, there is no need to hesitate. You needn't worry about hurting me— about hurting my feelings." He closed his eyes, looking a bit pained. "It hurts me more to see you hesitating to talk to me."

She had nothing to ask, not right now, so Nana only nodded.

"Good," he seemed relieved at having gotten it out. Overall, he didn't seem that good with emotions — or at least, with showing them. "I had fun. If you need me, you know where to find me," he said, and left the room, leaving Nana alone with Sister.

"Young mademoiselle... thank you."

Nana glanced at Sister, and smiled understandingly. "It's no problem. I'm only glad I was able to make him happy."

Sister ducked her head, smile still glued on her face. She looked so pretty. Nana wished she could get her to smile until the end of time. "Let's get you to bed."

"Ugh, already?"

—

That night, as Nana tried to fall asleep, a sudden thought came to her. If she wanted to join the Detective Boys... shouldn't she actually befriend its members?

Oh no.

—

"Nana-chan!"

Startling at the sudden call of her name, Nana still took the time to put a smile on her face. "Oh, Ayumi-chan!"

"Wanna play with us?" Behind Ayumi was another girl, with pigtails and glasses, holding a long rope.

"Sure. What's the game?"

And she had been worried about how to approach Ayumi? Ah, she shouldn't have.

—

"Hey!" Nana greeted, smiling widely. "Your name's Mitsuhiko, right? I'm Kotone!"

"G-good morning..." Mitsuhiko said, a bit warily.

"What are you reading?" she asked, nonplussed by his lack of enthusiasm, peering over his shoulder.

He startled, and gave her something of an annoyed look. "It's a book about Momotaro."

"Ah, the Peach Boy?" she tilted her head, backing away from him. He probably was annoyed at being interrupted. She knew she would be. "I've read that one," or well, more like heard the story enough time that she knew about it. She paused. "Can I wait until you're finished? There are some things I didn't understand in it and I wanted to ask you."

Was this okay? Referring to him as superior would probably help. She felt a bit slimy, using such tactics on a kid.

"Oh!" The tips of his ears flushed, but he kept an uninterested look. "Of course!" He turned back to his book, looking more focused than ever.

Was he planning on impressing her? Geez. That was adorable.

...should she prepare herself for a lecture?

—

"Oh, is that hitsumabishi?" Nana asked, staring curiously at the eel on rice in Genta's lunchbox. "I don't think I've ever had that. Is it any good?"

"Yeah!" With that, he shoveled half his lunchbox into his mouth in one big gulp.

"You seem to like eating," she said, ever so eloquent, doing her best to appear unaffected by his monster appetite. "What's your favorite food?"

"Eel!" Genta exploded. "It's so good...!" Just the thought of it made him drool.

Nana laughed, hiding her mouth behind her hand. "That's great. I should try it out someday." She turned toward Ayumi and Mitsuhiko, who were sitting at the same table. "What about you guys?"

"I like dango! The sweet sauce is _soo_ good!" Ayumi exclaimed. Seemed like food was a popular topic for kids. "What about you, Mitsuhiko-kun?"

Though he looked startled at being included, he smiled. "I like sushi. It's a bit pricy, but it's great when my family buys boxed sushi or goes to the restaurant."

"Oh, you guys are making me hungry!" Genta whined.

"Genta-kun!" Ayumi said, tone scolding.

"We're already eating!" Mitsuhiko said, tone just as scolding.

Nana laughed. They were such a cheery bunch.

"Kotone-chan, what's your favorite food?" Mitsuhiko asked, ever the polite one — which, uh, sometimes he was quite impolite, too... though, granted, he wasn't as bad as the rest of the Detective Boys, to be sure.

"Me?" Nana considered it, taping her chopsticks to her chin thoughtfully. But no matter how hard she tried to remember, she could not remember. Even something as simple as her favorite food...

"I like rice," she said, forcing her face into a carefree but sheepish grin. "It's simple and yet delicious. Isn't that strange?" She thought about it some more, tilting her head back. "Nee-chan cooks it a lot, too." Suddenly, her grin felt less fake.

"Ooh, Kotone-chan, you have a sister?" Ayumi suddenly pitched in, features bright.

"Not really," Nana said, though she was not sure. Did Kotone Nana have a sister? "It's just Saburo-oji-san's maid, but she acts like she's my big sister. She's really kind and pretty, too!" She snickered at the thought of Sister hearing her say that. Would she blush? Maybe she should do it.

"Eeeh," Ayumi smiled, "that's so nice! I wish I had a sister!"

Nana smiled down at her food, wondered if she had had a sister, _before_. The chattering of children continued.

—

Nana was once again busy making flower origami when the news came.

"In other news, a murder has been instigated at a roller-coaster at Tropical Land. Luckily, the police was able to solve it quickly, with the help of High School Detective Kudo Shinichi. Our condolences go to the victim's family," the TV presenter said, immediately moving on to something else.

This meant the DCMK plot had begun. She was running out of time.

"Something wrong, young mademoiselle?"

Nana startled, but gave a small smile at the worried scowl on Sister's lips. "No, it's nothing."

Sister nodded, and continued her work of peeling the skin of an apple. She was planning on an apple pie, and had (sadly) refused any help Nana had offered. "Does the young mademoiselle like mysteries?"

"Hmm," she shrugged. "I like mystery in books and fiction, but it's a bit sad when it happens in real life."

Sister didn't answer for a moment, and Nana almost moved on, thinking that there would be no answers.

"I think... murder mysteries are the most thrilling, but..." She stopped peeling the apple for a moment. "Indeed, it is quite tragic," Sister said, her voice a bit low. "The victim will most likely never be able to communicate with their loved ones again."

"Hmm?" Nana raised a brow at the wording, but shrugged it off. Sister had a tendency to complicate things like that. "Yes, it is tragic. I wish I could do something to help."

Sister didn't answer by anything other than a sad sigh, so Nana left it at that.

She had to concentrate on other things, anyway.

—

A week after Nana herself had become a student at Teitan Elementary, the star— _nay!_ the hero came.

In all of his one meter high glory, there stood the famous High School Detective of the East, Kudo Shinichi.

"Nice to meet you," Conan said, voice trembling, face red. "I'm going to this school starting today... I'm Edogawa Conan." He gave a sheepish laugh, obviously embarrassed by his own name — which, he shouldn't be, since he had been the one to chose it.

"Edogawa..."

"Conan...?"

"What a weird name!"

The whole class, sans the teacher, Nana, and Conan himself, burst out laughing. If Conan's face hadn't been red before, it sure was now.

Conan looked around the class with distaste and embarrassment clear on his face. Nana gave him a sympathetic smile, remembering how embarrassing it was to introduce herself in front of everyone.

"Okay, everyone!" the kind teacher called. "Why don't we introduce ourselves, too?"

"Uh...?" Nana mumbled. She was quite certain it hadn't happened in the original plot. She was sure she would have remembered it if it had — it was such a strange thing, making the whole class introduce themselves to the new student...

Had she... done that?

Was it from her asking for it? When she had introduced herself, the whole classroom had introduced themselves back, right?

Geez. Even Conan looked shocked.

"Okay!" the class cheered, not even complaining. The first student introduced himself, but Nana tuned it out.

Forgetting how amusing this whole situation was, **this** **meant something**.

She _was_ able to change things, even with the smallest of actions. She had changed things just by introducing herself in a weird way. That must mean something!

Surely, she could change things for the better.

The girl sat next to Nana introduced herself, and Nana braced herself. Once she finished, Nana got up, and smiled softly at Conan.

"My name's Kotone Nana. I like origami and flowers." She paused, and gave a small grin, quite enjoying the bored look on Conan. He must be thinking how boring elementary school would be. "I like flower origami!" She bowed. "It's nice to meet you!"

Nice to meet you, indeed.

—

 **AN** : Writing this chapter was so tiring... and yet surprisingly fast and amusing.

I was prepared to say " _It's a good thing I only write for myself_ " in this AN in order to hide my grief at being ignored (it's quite the horrid lie), but it turns out people really left comments. All my gratitude goes to the two reviewers: Guest, and more importantly, spacecadet3.

Unregistered guest, thank you. Though your comment may have been short, it still gave me something to work for. :)

Spacecadet3, I hope this chapter pleased you. It originally would have had **[SPOILER]** Akemi's death, instead of her survival, **[/SPOILER]** but your comment influenced me quite a bit, helping me decide whether I wanted to change a lot or only a little about the original DCMK plot. Thank you for your support.

Thank you to all those who favorited and followed this story, too. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I won't disappoint you in the future. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment, it would mean everything to me.

This chapter has been edited (11th April 2018). Changes made: "Nee-chan" changed to "Sister."


	3. admission of guilt

CHAPTER THREE:  
admission of guilt  
_

It was only later, at night, once she was in her room, dressed up in her pyjama's shorts, that Nana let herself think about her situation.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized just how out of her depth she was.

How could she possibly hope to fight back against a system as big as the Black Organization? She was just a child here — and, though she had a hard time admitting it to herself, her memories weren't stable enough for her to confirm she really was older than her seven years old body. She didn't have Conan's intelligence. She couldn't gather the FBI, and she certainly didn't have the Kudo's relations.

However... she had much better, didn't she?

Knowledge of the future, and a loving uncle who also just happened to be a witch~ Wasn't that great?

 _"If there is anything you wish to know, there is no need to hesitate,"_ Uncle Saburo had said, but how could she possibly explain her situation?

" _Sorry for never telling you anything, but in fact I come from another world and I know about the future of some people and I need some help_ "? Ha!

Okay, she shouldn't get so cynical.

She'd need to begin with telling him she needs some help, and then lightly apologize for not telling him before. Then would come telling him about her memory troubles, and then she would admit to not coming from this world, and to knowing some things about the future of this world. There would be another, more in depth apology there, and she'd once again ask for his help, explaining why she needed help in the first place.

...aah, it seemed like such a long and tense discussion. Even just thinking about it made her head (and heart) hurt.

Would Uncle Saburo be angry at her for not telling anything? for not admitting her faults? Would he... would he accuse her of killing his niece?

At the thought, Nana gripped her head, looking down at her lap.

Did she _have_ to tell him? Could she simply explain to him the situation — what she needed — without giving the context?

No, no. This line of thought was bad.

If she put this off for too long, then the reveal would only be worse. Of course, she could try to keep this secret forever, but... ah, the guilt would eat her alive, wouldn't it? Just the thought of never telling Uncle Saburo and Sister made her stomach churn.

They were so kind to her, couldn't she repay them?

She'd do it, then. She would tell them.

...tomorrow.

Or maybe the day after tomorrow.

Thinking about it hurt too much. She couldn't bear it anymore.

Nana pulled her covers around her colors, took a pile of brightly colored papers, and spent a few hours making origami, thinking about the sea, its waves, its scent, and the faint memory of a mother.

—

"I... haven't been entirely honest with you," Nana began with, twisting and pulling at her fingers, staring down at her lap. "There are some things I want to tell you."

She risked a glance at Uncle Saburo, but he only nodded encouragingly, the warm smile that had been on his face having faded just a tad, perhaps sensing the incoming tensed discussion.

"I— I wanted to tell you before, of course," she said, surprising herself with how truthful it sounded — she just hadn't entertained the thought for more than a split second, it was too unimaginable, too off putting, to think that such a situation would ever happen, that there would ever be a need to discuss it. "I've just been afraid that... that you'd become angry with me."

Uncle Saburo made a small noise, but didn't say anything. Sister was silent, as she often was when Uncle Saburo was in the room.

"In case you really do get angry with me," she swallowed, "I just— I wanted to tell you that none of this happened from my own volition... or at least, not as far as I can remember."

( _Wasn't that just a horrible thought? Had her past self willingly killed Kotone Nana? Please, please, no._ )

"Do you remember... I mean, of course you remember. That— that day I was found in that back alley..." She breathed slowly, and pressed her shaking hands together. "The truth is, I don't remember much from before that."

This time, it was Sister who made a noise, but Nana didn't try to look at her face. Instead, she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the burning tell of tears.

"Even so... there are some things that I do remember. I... I don't think I'm six, or even seven years old. I— I don't remember my exact— my exact age but. I don't think it's above fifteen but I'm not really sure I don't— as I told you I don't really remember anything but—" she cut herself short.

Her hands were hurting now, nails biting into her skin.

"Nana..." Uncle Saburo began, softly.

( _He had said it himself, hadn't he? "Your arrival into this world has consumed my... my dearest's daughter," he had said. Did he know?_ )

She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "There's also... I don't think — I _know_ my real name is anywhere close to Kotone Nana," she admitted quietly, preparing herself for the incoming reveal — for her admission of guilt. "My name— I'm not really sure what it is. I have a name in mind, but I'm not sure it's the— the... I'm not sure it's..."

Maybe it was her name, but it could have been anyone else's as well. Maybe it was her mother's, her sister's— maybe a friend's, or a lover's. In the end, who was Ada Howlands? It hurt to think about. She had a name, and yet no one to attribute it to.

Maybe it was better she kept it to herself.

"There's something else—" she stopped, and began once more; "That's— all that isn't really what I wanted to— I..." She took another breath, and raised her head, though she kept her eyes anchored on the floor. "There's something else I wanted to tell you."

Neither Uncle Saburo nor Sister had said anything, yet. She wondered if they looked angry.

She closed her eyes.

"I think... I think I might have killed the real Kotone Nana."

Silence. The only noise in the room seemed to be Nana's own out of control heartbeat. She thought she might have become deaf, in that second of silence.

"I don't know... I don't know if I did it intentionally," she said. "I don't think so, but... it's hard to tell. I just... Whenever I try to think about _before_ , my head goes completely blank."

"Nana..." Uncle Sabu— ah, she didn't really have the right to call him that, did she now? The way he whispered it... She wondered if he was calling for her — for her, the girl— no, the being that had no name -, or for the dead little girl.

The dead little girl.

The little girl she had killed.

She felt sick.

She _was_ sick.

"Please look at me."

She wanted to— she really did. She tried to lift her head, but suddenly she was crying, whole body trembling, locked in her sitting position, with her head ducked down, ashamed.

"My dear child..." A hand touched her chin, gently lifting her head. "Nana, please don't cry." A thumb stroked her cheek, softly, wiping away a tear track.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, instead, lips trembling with the effort of keeping herself from sobbing. "I'm so sorry."

The hand on her cheek stayed, but another came to lay behind her head, gliding down to the back of her neck. For a moment, she had the horrible thought of Mr Kotone snapping her neck, just like that — but the moment passed, and instead Mr Kotone enveloped her into a hug.

Her face pressed into his lily-smelling suit, she suddenly wanted nothing more than to burrow her face into the spot between his shoulder and neck.

"Nana," he repeated, gently. "I do know."

She made a small noise of panick, balling her hands into fists, resting against his chest. Suddenly, she realized that her eyes were wide open, leaking like a faucet.

"I've known ever since I stepped into that room," he continued. "Haven't I made myself clear yet? Whatever your name is or was, you'll always be—" he stopped himself, taking a short breath, his voice quieting: "You'll always be my Nana, my dear 'niece.'"

He took to softly caressing the back of her head, voice quiet, as if shy. "My dear Nana..."

"Oji-san..." she managed to mumble.

His chest rumbled contentedly. "My dear child... I am so glad you are here now, with me."

"But..." her voice was trembling, but at least, it managed to come out. "About... about the previous... about the real... the real Nana..."

"Did you really think I would house a murderer?" he said, voice taking on a hint of amusement. "My dear, I once again assure you that you are entirely innocent in the matters concerning what happened to... the previous 'Kotone Nana.'"

She made a small, inquisitive noise.

"She has not truly disappeared. It is impossible to erase someone from existence," he explained, and then tapped the side of her head. "She is just there, hidden somewhere, beneath the mess your arrival created."

She stayed quiet for a moment. Lifting her head a bit, she grabbed the fabric of his suit jacket, and then went to hug him back. "You mean she's not dead?"

"No, she is not dead."

"Ah..."

Her arms were trembling, and once more, her eyes filled with tears — but this time, it was not in pain or in sorrow, but rather in relief. "I'm so glad," she said honestly. "I'm so glad."

Time seemed to disappear, as Nana continued to sob and sniffle into Uncle Saburo's chest, finding comfort in the warmth and weight of his arms around her.

"There are some things I still need to tell you," she finally managed to say, sniffling a bit. She probably looked pathetic, tear tracks all over her red cheeks and (she hoped not) probably with snot somewhere along the way. Her hair was probably all of the place, too.

"I'm sure you can tell me tomorrow," Uncle Saburo said, fatherly smile on his face.

"Right..." Taking a break definitely didn't sound bad.

"Right?" he laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling happily. He looked relieved — at having this conversation out of the way? "Owl, why don't you get her to bed?"

"Right away, _master_ ," Sister said, startling Nana with her sudden reappearance in the conversation.

"Good night," Uncle Saburo said, cupping her cheek once more. A look of hesitation flashed on his face, before he ducked down, and pressed a brief kiss on her forehead. "I will see you tomorrow, my dear child."

"Good night," she managed before he disappeared behind the doorway.

He smiled, and with all that said and done, left, the rhythmic sound of his footsteps soon disappearing.

That left Nana and Sister alone, once more.

Sister had been silent throughout most of their discussion, and although at the time Nana had barely noticed it, now she could really feel the silence.

"Nee-chan..." she managed to call, but suddenly realized that, maybe, Sister wouldn't want to be called that way by a... by whatever Nana was. "I'm sorry," she said instead, "Are you cross with me?"

Sister didn't answer, face unreadable. Suddenly, Nana hated those pretty sunglasses.

"I..." she began, but what was there to say? No matter how many times she apologized, it wouldn't bring back the real Kotone Nana any faster. "I understand if you are angry... I... or if you... I..." She stopped, shoulders slumping, and turned away.

There was nothing she could say. She didn't even know how Sister felt; was she angry? sad? betrayed? Who knew. Sister was unreadable at best and emotionless at worst.

"I never knew... the real Kotone Nana." Sister whispered suddenly, voice incredibly soft. She paused, raising her head, looking out the window. "I wonder... would Madame be...?"

 _Madame?_

Sister broke her reverie, and looked at Nana.

"Whoever you were before you woke up as 'Kotone Nana,' it does not matter." There still was a clear lack of emotion on her face, but something like sorrow made the corners of her eyes twitch. "Because your— the essence of what makes you, you... it is identical to who Kotone Nana had been."

A shiver went down Nana's spine. "Wha—what does it mean?" Was _she_ Kotone Nana? No way. Uncle Saburo would have told her, right?

"Where do you come from?" Sister said, voice going a bit (mockingly...?) stern. "You do not come from this Earth— not from this world."

"Um," how did she know? "N-no..."

Sister's shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. "That's good."

"What?" She blinked at Sister, eyes wide, unbelieving, at the lackluster response. "Just like that?"

Sister nodded, and crouched down to Nana's level. After a hesitating pause, she gathered both of Nana's small hands into hers, pressing them together in... reverence? "It's all good," she said, emotion coating her voice.

"Uh." Nana was getting whiplash from that plot twist! What was all that about?!

Sister stood up, still holding one of Nana's hands. "Then, young mademoiselle, shall we go?"

"Um...?"

Sister laughed. Her laugh sounded like the chiming of bells, and Nana was 100% over her head.

"Okay," she finally managed to say, "let's go."

—

The next day began with Sister offering to tie up her hair, crimson ribbons in her hands.

Sister's long fingers gathered the upper half of her hair, and split it into two pigtails. Nana feared it would look a little weird — bangs framing her face, most of her hair going down her shoulders, and the upper part of her hair gathered in long pigtails? Was this the infamous half up pigtails hairstyle? It would probably look cute on someone else, but on her...

"Here you go," Sister said, tying the second ribbon in a bow.

Nana was led to the mirror, and gaped at what she could piece out of her reflection. She had completely forgotten but... Kotone Nana was quite the cute child!

"I... look adorable...?!"

"Indeed." Sister looked as if she wanted to say more, but kept shut.

Nana wasn't paying attention though, too busy with her own thoughts. If she had immediately expected to be disgusted with her own reflection, did it mean that her past self had low self esteem? Geez.

—

As sad as it was, Nana had to go to school, no matter how much she had cried the day before — though she really had no place to complain; she'd been the one to ask to go back to school.

Though the kids were often quite entertaining, the classes in themselves were boring, and Nana found herself lost in thoughts in no time, mindlessly making origami.

She needed a plan.

It was a bit hard to properly find one when she didn't know what Uncle Saburo could help her with yet, but she could at least try to think of what she absolutely needed to do.

For now, her main preoccupation was Akemi and the whole mess that came with her.

She still couldn't remember when in the timeline it took place, but she could at least try to prepare for it. She'd just need to watch over any bank robberies, in the meantime. Or maybe she could watch over the Mouri Agency, and see if any young girl in pigtails and glasses went there.

Of course, the main objective was saving Akemi, but there were some other things she needed to watch over.

For example, one of the things she absolutely needed to do, was put show a face for the Black Organization to blame. If there was no one they could accuse and aim to kill, then they would try to blame others — in this case, it would most likely be Conan, Mouri, or Ran.

She needed someone there, but it also had to be someone who wouldn't be so easily targeted. It'd probably be best if it was someone in disguise.

But the only people she was sure could disguise themselves so effectively were Kaito KID, Vermouth, and Kudo Yukiko, and none of them were in contact with her.

Of course, she could try with Kaito KID and Kudo Yukiko, but...

She would need to ask Uncle Saburo about this. Maybe magic could help. Something like... creating the image of someone, or maybe changing the appearance of someone?

But even with changing the appearance of someone, it left the problem of the Black Org acting back — that is to say, shooting (or trying to harm in any way) said diguised person.

Who would do it, anyway? Nana herself?

Well, whatever. She wasn't even sure Uncle Saburo had anything that could help.

If it turned out that he did not, in fact, have anything to help with the situation, then she would just have to find another solution. Perhaps she could try to convince KID or Kudo Yukiko.

Nana sighed, and began another water lily.

What else was there to plan? So far she had planned saving Akemi and making sure that no one else would get in danger. What else was there she needed to do?

Before Nana could continue on her planning, the bell rang.

"Alright, class! Recess time!"

The children cheered, most already leaving their seats to go outside. Nana looked at them go, remaining firmly in place, caressing her third water lily origami.

"Woa, Nana-chan!" Ayumi gushed, suddenly at her side, holding one of the water lily. "Did you make them? They're so pretty!"

Ignoring her pleased blush, Nana nodded. "Yeah... They're a bit harder to make, but I think they're lovely."

"You really like doing them," Mitsuhiko said, suddenly at her side, too — was this going to be a common thing? "I saw you doing them during class."

Nana chuckled sheepishly. "I got distracted," she admitted. "And I have the habit of doing origami whenever I'm lost in thoughts" — or at least, she thought she did, but... was it _her_ or Kotone Nana, who was so fond of origami? Going by the way neither Sister nor Uncle Saburo had said anything about it, she guessed it had been Nana.

"I don't think I would have the patience..." Genta said, appearing at her side just as suddenly as the others had. He looked a bit hesitant, looking at the water lilies.

"Oh!" Ayumi beamed at Nana; "Could you teach us how to do them? It'd be so fun!"

"Um," Nana looked at the water lily in her hands, and glanced the clock. "I don't think we have enough time to finish it right now, but we can continue some other day. Or we can stay after class."

"Okay!" the three children cheered, dragging chairs to join her at her desk.

Ayumi paused, though, and looked at Conan, who was reading a book, alone at his table. A pensive look went over her face.

After a moment, she brightened, and waved at Conan. "Conan-kun, do you wanna join us?"

Nana almost laughed out loud. She could remember that, in the beginning of DCMK, Conan tried quite hard to avoid the children. Plus, he was obviously busy with his book.

To her surprise, however, Conan glanced at _her_ , and nodded; "Sure."

 _What the fuck_ , she thought, a bit hysterically. She was _so_ not ready for that. What if he realized that there was something wrong with her? Was this why he had accepted to come? Was he already suspicious? Oh no.

For a moment, Nana thought their eyes met. She ducked her head down, concentrating on her water lily.

"Great!" Ayumi cheered.

Genta and Mitsuhiko, though they looked quite annoyed at the chain of events, hurried to bring another chair to the table.

"What are we doing?" Conan asked, sitting down.

"Origami!" Ayumi said, presenting him one of Nana's water lilies. "Nana-chan is teaching us!"

Conan raised an eyebrow, taking the water lily. He inspected it carefully. "This is complex. I didn't expect it from a child your— I mean, from someone our age."

Nana chuckled sheepishly, adapting her acting. Maybe she could pass on as a somewhat mature child. "I know. I just..." she paused purposefully, trying to make it look like she was floundering for words. "It's a bit sad that adults are so surprised whenever I show my origami to them... but in a way it's a bit funny."

Mitsuhiko nodded. "They always underestimate us."

Wow! She hadn't expected this from him. It worked for her, anyway. If he appeared smart too, then she could pretend that they were just two smart children.

Still, Conan looked a bit surprised in that moment.

"Well anyway," Nana continued. "Do you really want to start with water lilies? They're a bit hard, even for me."

Ayumi tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I know how to make cranes."

"And fish," Genta added.

"Yeah, we did that last week," Mitsuhiko said.

"But I wanna do a flower now!" Ayumi nodded.

"I see..." She chanced a glance at the obviously bored Conan. "How about we make a simple flower for now? We can try to up the difficulty next time."

"Okay!" the three (real) kids said, each grabbing a piece of paper.

"Is it alright with you, Edogawa?" Nana asked, looking at Conan carefully, still trying to keep a generally childishly hopeful look on her face.

"Sure." He shrugged.

Ugh. Did he have to hold such contempt for them? She was just itching for the moment he would lose this smugness. Hopefully it'd come soon.

Maybe with Akemi's death... or that Moonlight Sonata case. Though, honestly, she'd rather have him smug than with dead people on his conscience. Ugh. She did _not_ want to think about that now.

"Alright, so you begin by folding the paper like this..."

—

"You still had something you wished to tell me?" Uncle Saburo said that evening, as a conversation starter.

"Um, yeah." Though it was not quite as big as revealing that she had killed his niece, it still was quite hard to say, wasn't it? "It's about, um, about _my_ before."

He nodded, non plussed.

"Right, um. So, it's also about... magic? I think?" She nodded to herself. "Maybe it isn't that weird to you, then."

"Magic?" he repeated.

"So, uh..." she looked around, hesitant, and brought her voice a level lower. "So... you know about parallel universes?"

"Of course, I do."

"Huh?" She blinked at him owlishly, stunned. "You— you do?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Is it really that surprising?"

"Not really, I guess..." She glanced at Sister, but to her surprise, Sister didn't look all that surprised either.

"I suppose that your... previous self, came from a parallel universe?" Uncle Saburo said. "How come you noticed? Most parallel universes ressemble one another closely."

She laughed nervously. "Um, about that... So, see, there was this, err, TV show, back there. It was about— well, it doesn't really matter what it was about. It's just that... the characters from that TV show are... they're real people, here."

 _Now_ came the unnerved look. "Is that so...?"

"Yeah," she said, just as incredulous as him. "But the thing is... some people die and... I don't think... I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I just let them die."

"I see..."

"But I can't possibly drag you into this," she continued. "It's quite dangerous and... You understand, right? I have to get involved because I _know_ , but you..."

"What I understand," Uncle Saburo said, closing his eyes, looking pained, "is that my dear 'niece' is telling me that she will get into danger, and yet is also telling me not to get involved."

She winced. "Yeah..."

"Did you truly think I would stay on the side, waiting for this to pass?"

"Um, take it as... err, adventuring? Or becoming independent!"

"How old are you again?" he said dryly.

She looked down at her (probably) seven years old body. "Right." She shook her head, and pursued on, "But! I mean that, you can help me, but... I'm just... afraid that you will get hurt."

"To think a child would..." Uncle Saburo muttered, pinching his nose, scowling. "Nana, dear, how do you think it feels? My young niece, telling me she will just—!"

"I'm not telling you to abandon me!" she cried, then quieted. "I'm just saying... that I only need some help. There isn't _that_ much that needs to be changed. Or at least I think."

Uncle Saburo sighed, still looking frustrated. "Alright," he said placatingly, "what do you need?"

She hesitated, but then gave a sheepish smile, already anticipating his reaction. "Do you have anything against bullet wounds?"

Both Uncle Saburo and Sister blanched.

"It's not for me!" she hurried to say. "Or at least, I don't think it's for me..." She paused. "Wait, never mind. Do you have anything like— like a shield? Something that could block bullets. A bulletproof jacket would be enough."

"Nana..." Uncle Saburo looked as if _he_ had received a bullet.

She laughed sheepishly. "I know, but... If you have something that can block bullets, and that I can use on someone without them knowing, then it would be perfect."

Uncle Saburo stayed frozen for a moment longer, and then sighed, looking as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I... suppose I do have something like that somewhere. Or I suppose I could make it for you."

"Sorry for the trouble," she said, ducking her head sheepishly.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"There's someone I need to save," she said carefully, wondering how she could word it. She probably shouldn't give any name — wasn't her secret to tell. "But in order to make it safe for others, I need to give someone to blame for what— for what I plan to do. But showing my own face would only put us — this house — in trouble."

"I see..." He sighed.

"It'd mean I would have to change my appearance. Do you have anything for that?" she pressed.

"There... _is_ something that could help you," he said, reluctantly, "but I fear that it would bring you much pain, too."

"Pain?"

"Indeed. Using this magical... artefact will change your appearance to your will, but... Changing your appearance is like ripping a part of your essence. It should be fine, because this part of your essence would come back later, but..."

Nana pursed her lips. "It's fine. I prefer a little pain to letting someone die."

Though he looked chagrined, he nodded. "As you wish. I must warn you, however, not to use this artefact too often. Ripping multiple parts of your essence in too little time will... bring unwanted, most likely permanent consequences."

"I'll see to it," she promised, though not without a shiver going down her spine. She should make sure not to mess with magic.

"Owl," Uncle called, not even bothering to look at Sister.

"Yes, _master_ ," Sister said, leaving the room.

In five seconds flat, she was back, a box in hand. "Here it is," she said to Nana, handing her the box.

"Thank you." She glanced at her uncle, who nodded encouragingly, and opened the box. There was a small jade pearl, stringed into a necklace. "So I just have to put it on?"

Uncle Saburo nodded. "Indeed. You will also have to think of what appearance you wish to have."

"Thank you," Nana said, so relieved that she felt as if she could burst into laughter at any moment. "Thank you so much, Saburo-oji-san. Not just for this, but... for everything you've done for me." She smiled up at him. "I promise to repay you, some day."

Uncle Saburo smiled serenely, but waved her gratitude off. "There's no need to make such a promise. You know, I hope, that... I would do anything for you," he said, voice going quiet, as if he was telling her his biggest secret.

Nana smiled, flushing in pleasure. "I had guessed," she said, feeling a bit cheeky.

She was starting to think that he was being truthful when he told her that, with how sincere he looked each time. She still didn't know whether his love extended to _her_ — to Ada, or whoever she was — but for now, it was more than she could ask for.

He laughed, and even Sister looked amused.

"Indeed," he said. "Now, why don't you go rest? I'm sure you must be exhausted, after explaining all this. You will think about a definitive plan for that person you wish to save later. Tell us what more we can do later, alright?"

She nodded, smiling sheepishly.

"Owl, why don't you get her to bed?"

Sister bowed her head, still smiling. "Right away, _master_."

—

Once Sister wished her a good night, Nana got up, and undressed, grabbing the amulet. She had to test it.

It was probably a bad idea... but Nana found herself immensely curious. She was in the body of Kotone Nana, a little girl who had never been allowed a future, but... what if she had?

What would have Kotone Nana looked like?

She would never show it to Uncle Saburo or Sister, of course. The pain and grief of seeing their dear Kotone Nana grown up would probably kill them. She couldn't force that on them.

But... just for herself, just for her eyes, it was alright, wasn't it? She was, in part, Kotone Nana, after all. Couldn't she at least try to know what the real Kotone Nana would have been like? What she would have liked to be?

She grabbed the amulet, pressing it against her chest.

She thought about what an older Kotone Nana would look. Taller, taller than most girls, maybe. With the same length of hair, and the same eyes. Maybe a few more freckles, or even a few smile wrinkles.

Suddenly, a searing pain came over her body, spreading from the top of her skull to the tips of her toes.

—

The next thing Nana knew, she was face down, on the ground, curled up. Had she... Had she just fainted...?

She looked at the clock. Two full hours had passed, and yet, even now, she could still feel the throbbing pain.

Ah... A shiver went down her spine. This was so scary.

She couldn't tell whether she had screamed or not — but her throat wasn't hurting, so she most likely hadn't. It was a bit surprising. The pain had been so intense that... she had thought she was dying.

Her head was so muddled with pain, she could barely think anything, and, as she got up, her muscles trembled.

She looked at her reflection, ignoring her nakedness.

A tall girl stared back at her, a dazed expression on her face. It took a moment for Nana to realize that it was, in fact, her.

Indeed, the shattered reflection that had followed her until now had disappeared. Her reflection was clear, smooth. She could now see herself. Did it mean that the shattered reflection only happened with the child Kotone Nana?

Moving on, she was surprised to find that her appearance wasn't exactly as she had imagined it. Her hair was shorter, for one, and there was also a bunch of beauty marks over her face and body. Her hair was curly, too, cut into a very fluffy bobcut. It looked good.

Maybe it was the real Kotone Nana would have looked like. Maybe it was what the real Kotone Nana had wanted to look like. Maybe this was a leftover wish of hers.

If _she_ — Ada, Nana, or whoever she was — was still there by then, she would make sure to look like that, if only in remembrance.

Ah...

She shouldn't... she shouldn't be thinking like that. Even Uncle Saburo had told her that it was alright, but...

The future that _she_ stole...

Uncle Saburo had said that it wasn't her, but... was it truly not her fault...? She couldn't get the thought out of her head. Was she truly innocent in this?

Nana breathed deeply, shutting her eyes, and shook it off. She couldn't use the grown up Kotone Nana's appearance for the Black Org, anyway.

She held the amulet once more, pressing it against her chest. Closing her eyes, she thought about what appearance she could don in order to fool the Black Org.

The same pain came again, and Nana blacked out.

—

She woke up, once again curled up on the floor. When she looked at the clock, she was unsurprised to find that two more hours had passed.

She forced herself to get up, ignoring the burning pain in her limbs. To think she would have to do it once more, in order to get back to her usual Kotone Nana appearance.

The girl in the mirror was... for one, _not_ distorted either. She was quite the pretty girl, in fact. She looked like the tomboy, sporty type; short brown hair, dark eyes, and smooth skin. Her limbs were thin, though you could see some muscles. Her legs were long, too. She was quite tall — at least, for a fourteen to sixteen years old.

It seemed like a good enough body to face the Black Org. She didn't remember anyone looking like her in the DCMK cast. Sera Masumi could possibly be mistaken for her, but there still was quite the difference. And Sera wasn't here yet, anyway.

It was... unnerving, to see someone other than the distorted Kotone Nana in her reflection. Especially with the fact she was naked. She felt like a pervert.

Ugh.

She gathered her bed sheets, and brought them over her shoulders, sitting down on the floor. She would ask for clothes later.

Or maybe she could borrow from Sister?

—

 **AN** : I got _four_ more comments...! That was so exciting! My many thanks to Luckias Rowanesque, BlueRose2200, and TheJesterCard! Your comments made my days and nights! I apologize if I ramble too much when I answer to your comments. It just makes me ecstatic to see someone willing to talk to me. :) What wonderful feedback! I am genuinely overjoyed!

I think I've gotten a bit too greedy though. Even though I already had comments, I kept checking if there was any new one... That's a bad habit to take. I should be satisfied with what I have.

On another note, this chapter was quite hard to write. A lot of explaining (and crying, poor Nana...), and not a lot of fun stuff. :( I did my best to hurry it along, because if _I_ don't enjoy myself, then I'm sure my readers won't. I hope I was right.

Guess what is coming next? haha, it's pretty obvious. We're gonna get some action + some more bonding (but with who? haha)! I'm quite excited! :)

This chapter has been edited (11th April 2018). Changes made: "Nee-chan" changed to "Sister," Nana's shattered reflection.


	4. the corpse or lack thereof

CHAPTER FOUR:  
the corpse... or lack thereof  
—

There were people floating around.

That was the first thing Nana noticed, the morning after she first tested out the pendant.

They weren't quite people, honestly. They looked like people, but there were some things missing — their faces, for one, were completely smooth, flat surfaces, and their legs ended with no feet. They floated at least a few centimeters above the ground, seemingly weightless, and roamed the streets, the halls, and the sky, seemingly lost. Some trailed after living, breathing people.

She tried not to stare, telling herself that maybe it was just a hallucination due to stress, but it was inevitable. Everywhere she looked, there was something, someone, one of those creatures. She could feel their gaze-less stares.

The worst gathering of those... _ghosts_ — _**ghosts...?**_ — was around Conan.

She guessed it was expected in a way, for a detective to have so many ghosts over his shoulder, but it still saddened her. What had led a child — a teenager, a young boy — to have such a following? Detective work wasn't enough to justify that.

She wondered what would be his reaction, were he to witness the wraiths trailing after him.

(At least, neither Uncle nor Sister had said anything about the screams she was sure had come from her room, last night.)

—

"I don't think that's it..." Nana said, looking at the list of ingredients dubiously.

Mitsuhiko nodded, before shaking his head as soon as Ayumi turned toward them. "I, I think it's good," he said feebly.

"Psh, you're just saying that," Nana told him, leaning over the desk to observe the paper more closely. "Have you even ever read a science book?"

"Of course!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed.

"Once or twice," Ayumi said, sheepishly.

"No," Genta said, unashamed.

Conan chuckled dryly.

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to mix baking soda with... something. Ah, what was it again...?" She deliberately turned toward Conan, eyes momentarily flicking up to the ghosts above his shoulders. "Hey, what is it again? A liquid of some sort."

"Bicarbonate of soda and vinegar," he said, ever so deadpan. As if she was supposed to know how to make a papier maché volcano... she blamed her amnesia.

Nana nodded. "That's right. Baking soda and vinegar."

Surprisingly, Conan continued talking, the ghosts leaning forward as he did. "Why do you suddenly want to make a volcano? You've never said anything about science before."

Ayumi smiled brightly. "I thought it'd be fun."

"Couldn't you use the vinegar for food, though? Food is better than volcanoes."

"I'm with you on that, Genta," Nana flashed him a smile. "Although, technically, lava and ash induce rich volcanic soil... which means crops, which means food."

"What! That's great! Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, let's make the greatest volcano ever!" With that, the three children cheered.

"Wait, that's not what I—" but they were already running off, asking the teacher for supplies, "—meant... I, uh, don't think they'll be able to grow much on papier maché."

She chanced a glance at Conan, only to see him looking just as dumbfounded as she felt.

"They're, uh... very energetic, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I think it's cute." Oh no, why was she trying to keep the conversation going? Make it stop! The awkwardness! (She bit back a laugh.) In her defense, it was expected of her to be wary around Conan, considering he was the _main character_ and those _**ghosts**_ _holy fuck what_. "I wish I was that energetic, too."

Conan leaned back in his seat, and she felt the burn of his curious gaze combined with the blank stares of the wraiths. "You're not?"

"Well, I..." _constantly feel like I'm about to pass out_ , though that was probably because she barely slept at all. It was hard to, honestly, even with the memory of the sea, lulling her to sleep. The shattered mirror, that had been comforting at the beginning, had begun making her turn over and over in her bed. She wondered why she was so hung up on those two little images. "I'm a bit too lazy for that, I think."

"You often doze off in class."

"You noticed?" Nana flushed, ducking her head down. She felt strangely vulnerable around Conan. Maybe because he was possibly in the same age range as her (was she really in her teens, though? Maybe she was older), or maybe because she knew him well. "It's just... a bit boring, honestly."

"School, you mean?" His eyes were fixated upon her, though his head was still turned forward. "So far, you've had good grades, though. Do you study a lot?"

"Not really." Studying for kindergarten stuff was just stupid — even the one thing she could have focused on (Japanese) ended up coming to her as easily as everything else. She could focus on other things, like saving people from that horrible Akemi plotline, or trying to remember her old lives. "What about you? You come from the States, right? Mustn't be easy to adapt to this place."

He looked startled, but then (to her dread) his eyes narrowed. "Yeah. I'm only thankful that my parents taught me Japanese beforehand."

"Yeah..." even as she said that, Nana gulped nervously, frozen into place.

Why did he seem so suddenly wary? Everything had been going so well — oh, well, it was a bit exaggerated to say that, considering the fact that Conan obviously suspected something (though probably not that she was a body snatcher and some kinda ghost) — and now he was acting all cautious!

Was it because she had mentioned his supposed origins? No, that couldn't possibly be it. He had already told their group where he came from (after much pestering from Ayumi).

Did he suspect that she knew about his true identity? What had clued him in?

"Are you feeling alright? You look a little pale."

Indeed, Nana felt a bit nauseous now, and the floating people didn't help. Nonetheless, she hurried to reassure him: "I'm OK. Just a little tired, I guess. I think I'm gonna, well, _doze off_. Again."

To his own apparent surprise, he laughed. "Alright. Good night."

"...Night."

—

"There were some weird things going around school today," Nana said, as she got into the car.

"Is that so?" Sister muttered absently, focusing on the road. "What sort of 'things'?"

"Ghosts."

The car jerked, but immediately went back to its previous smooth ride. "Is that so?" Sister repeated, only the tapping of her fingers on the wheel betraying her nervousness.

"I'm exaggerating a bit, I suppose. I wanted to try and talk to them, but I was afraid they were just hallucinations." She eyed Sister's hands. "Judging by your reaction, it's something you expected."

Sister didn't answer for a moment. Then, her shoulders slumped (though only a bit — Nana prided herself on being able to notice her minimal reactions). "I suppose it was bound to happen."

"You know what those were, then?"

"Indeed, I do."

"...so?"

"Ghosts."

"Yeah, I thought so." She paused. "So... ghosts exist..." Was she one, too? She was quite sure that she had died in some way, to become the new Kotone Nana. "I'm... not gonna ask why."

"It'd be quite difficult to explain," Sister allowed, though the tapping hadn't lessened. "I'm not well-spoken enough to do it by myself."

Well-spoken? Did she mean well-versed? Nonetheless, Nana nodded. "When there are a lot of ghosts gathered around one person, what does it mean?"

"It depends. Do you believe that person could be a murderer?"

"What? No!" Imagining Conan as a murderer made her feel a bit sick. With how knowledgeable and smart he was, it'd be easy for him to murder without anyone ever catching him. "No, that person does the contrary, in fact. He resolves murders."

"Did the specters seem grateful?"

"I can't see their faces." She looked out the window, and tried to catch a good glimpse of a ghost outside. All of their faces were blank, still. "Am I supposed to?"

"I see." Sister's tapping intensified — did the topic make her uncomfortable? "I can see them. Although, granted, I am a different case."

"You can see them, too?"

Sister nodded silently.

"Well," judging by her sudden silence, Sister genuinely was uncomfortable with the subject. For Conan's sake though, Nana pursued, "what do you think? Is there an issue with those ghosts following that person?"

For just a few seconds, Sister's head turned, and Nana got the feeling that her gaze was situated around her neck. "I don't think so," she said at last, sounding a bit out of breath. "I'm sure _Master_ will have some books on the subject."

Sensing that she had pushed too far, Nana only nodded.

—

"A detective, you say?" Uncle Saburo said when she told him.

"Well, they're not in the police or anything," it'd be pretty hard to be with the police when you were just a seven-year-old, "but, yeah."

"And you don't want to tell me their identity?" Uncle raised an eyebrow, but let the topic drop with a chuckle. "Would you say that person is a good or a bad detective?"

"You mean, have they ever dropped a case, let someone die, or accused the wrong person?" She shook her head. "Yeah, no. Not their type."

"A lot of death in their family? In their friend group?"

"Not anything I know of. Both of that person's parents are alive, and their friends are all alive and kicking." Except for Akemi, she couldn't think of anyone being in danger.

Uncle paused, eyes closed in thought. "Then... have they gotten involved in a big case recently?"

"Ah!" she yelped in realization. "You mean, because he's taken on such a big case, and because there were victims due to this org— this case, the victims have decided to follow him around... Why, though?"

"Who knows? I don't make talking to ghosts a point." He offered a tilted smile. "Unlike you and Owl, I'm not able to see ghosts. I..." he trailed off, and muttered: "I wonder why you are able to see them, in the first place..."

Nana had her own little theory about that, but decided to remain silent. Thinking about what had happened to the past her — Ada or whoever she was — scared her too much. "Will those ghosts harm that person?" she said instead.

"No," Uncle said shortly. "Although, he may become short on luck for a period of time."

Ghosts caused bad luck? Was this what would cause the famous death-magnet-Conan? Geez, who would have known death attracted... well, death.

"Is there anything I can do about that?" she asked hopefully. If she really intended on befriending Conan, it would be nice to be able to avoid all the crime scenes that Conan had to encounter.

"No."

Nana bit back a groan.

—

That very same afternoon, Sister led her to an old chest box, filled to the brim with clothes. "You wish to disguise yourself, yes?" Sister said. "For your saving someone mission."

"Yeah. Those are pretty old-fashioned, though," Nana said, leaning over the chest.

"Hmm," Sister tugged a white shirt out, holding it up. "I don't know if this will suit you."

Casting a critical eye over the shirt, Nana had to agree. It was quite beautiful, in all honesty, but looked a bit too refined for her. She would probably look ridiculous in it. "Not really my style, I guess."

Sister's head snapped to her. "You... don't like it?"

"What?" To have this kind of reaction, Sister must have put a lot of faith upon that shirt. "Well, I mean, it's pretty... but I don't think it'd fit me. I wager I look a little too rough for that."

Though her eyes were still hidden, it was obvious that Sister had been stunned into silence. "I... That's..." She gently laid the shirt on her lap. "I think the young mademoiselle would be beautiful- no, breathtaking, in whatever she wishes to wear."

Nana's heart had stopped beating, but she couldn't help but give a semi-amused smile. It was only a protective mechanism, though. "Geez, Nee-chan." _No need to lie just to make me feel better_ , she wanted to say, but stopped, unsure where the sudden self-consciousness was coming from. Feeling stuck, she resorted to compliments, "I think anything would fit you, too."

Flushing, Sister ducked her head. She lightly traced the edges of the shirt in her hands. "I'd... be eternally grateful if the young mademoiselle accepted to wear these garments."

She shrugged. "Sure. It's nothing on me." She wondered why Sister was so hung on those clothes, though. Maybe they had belonged to the previous Nana, or maybe to Sister herself.

To Nana's immense surprise, Sister continued talking. "Madame used to wear them," she admitted quietly.

"Madame...?"

"It... She was..." Sister breathed out slowly. "My beloved..."

They both fell silent, Sister reminiscing, and Nana too confused to say anything. Did Sister have a late lover? A lost sister? A grave for a mother? Was it only a forgotten friend? Nana knew next to nothing about Sister. It would come with time, she supposed.

But Nana couldn't survive with awkward silence. "She must have been great," she said cautiously, "to be loved so reverently by you."

Sister gave a pained smile, but remained silent.

"I'm thinking about official-looking clothes." She tried to remember what Akemi's clothes looked like. "Something like an air hostess... or a secretary. In shades of yellow, maybe." Had the clothes been yellow? She couldn't remember. Maybe they had been blue, or even pink.

Sister looked at the old chest, disheartened. "I don't believe we will find anything of the sort in this."

"It's fine," she hurried to reassure, "I'd like to wear those another time. It's just for this one time that I need specific clothes."

It'd actually be easier if she were able to take Akemi's clothes directly...

"Wait!" she yelped in realization. "I need to make them believe they killed her, but I can't _let_ them kill her, so I need to either give her something to protect herself, or let them shoot someone who can protect themselves — aka, in this situation, me — but I can't just appear when they're about to shoot her, because they will notice that something is wrong and will probably just shoot the both of us. So what I need to do is— either I manage to convince her to trust me, or I force her into it..."

"Mademoiselle?"

Nana turned to face Sister. "Say, if someone were to come to you on the street and tell you, 'Don't go there, they'll kill you,' you would probably think that this someone is crazy, right? But then again, it's not just any situation. She must be at least somewhat aware that they're able to kill her any time they want."

Sister remained silent.

"So I need to somehow convince her to at least listen to me, and we'll see from there on. Either I manage to make her wear that protection Saburo-oji-san's going to give me, or I don't, and I force her to stay somewhere safe while I go deal with the situation by myself."

Sister was starting to look a bit pained.

"What I'm trying to get at," Nana said, "is that I don't _need_ clothes similar to hers, since I can just _take_ hers. Well, I mean, it'd be nice to at least have a failsafe, in case I don't manage to get her out of hers... but I mean—" she cut herself short at the look on Sister's face. "Nee-chan?"

"I apologize, mademoiselle," Sister said, ducking her head. "It's only— hearing you talk about putting yourself in danger's way so easily..."

"Oh." Nana flushed, embarrassed beyond measure. She should really be more considerate of others' feelings. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. As long as Saburo-oji-san gives me that thing that protects me from bullets, then I'll be 100% alright," as long as everything went right, of course, but Sister didn't need to know that. It'd only serve to worry her more.

Sister didn't seem convinced, but she nodded. "I will have to remind him about it, then."

—

The first sign came from the newspapers.

It was something quite inconspicuous, just a simple article about a bank robbing, yet Nana found herself reading it three times over, making sure that it really was what she was thinking about.

Indeed, it was the infamous bank robbing that Akemi, along with her other two associates, had participated in.

While this certainly helped construct a timeline, Nana still couldn't be sure when Akemi's first meeting with Conan would be. However, she could clearly remember that Conan himself was there when Akemi first visited the Mouri Detective Agency, which meant that it wasn't during school hours.

Did she have to watch over the Detective Agency then? It sure seemed like a boring job, but at least it would ensure that she would know when to begin acting on her plan.

Each day, after school, Sister and Nana drove to the Detective Agency. For hours and hours, they would stay sitting in front of the Agency — most times, Sister would prepare a snack, or would buy a drink.

And finally, the day came that a young girl with pigtails walked in the Detective Agency.

"That's her!" Nana exclaimed, almost surprised herself. "Or... at least, I think it _was_ her. Do you think it's the first time she comes here?"

"I do not know."

"I know, I was talking to myself." She straightened her spine, trying to see through the Agency's windows. "Did she have lipstick?"

"Yes."

"Second time, then. How did we miss the first?" She tried to remember the exact order of events. This meant that Akemi was about to meet the old man with his cats, then. "We should try following them once they leave..." But wouldn't they realize they were being followed...? Then again, the old man with his cats would die for sure, if she didn't at least attempt to save him.

How could she save him, though? From what she could remember, the one to kill him was the Giant — aka someone that frail-looking and child-like Nana would never be able to fight off. She could try to call the police, but it would surely land the Black Org on both her and Akemi's trail.

"Nee-chan, do you know how to fight?"

"Wha—?"

—

"Please, please, please, _answer_ ," Nana muttered anxiously, ringing repeatedly on the doorbell. They were already late enough as is, waiting for Conan, Ran, and Kogoro to leave before they could make their move. And even then, they had to wait a little longer, for the other detective (the one with pretty eyes that didn't match with the rest of his physique) to leave.

"I do not believe that—" _ring_ "—doing this—" _ring_ "—will make him answer— " _riiiing_ "—faster," Sister said patiently.

"Oh, believe me—" _ring riiiiing_ "—grating on people's nerves is my specialty," she snarked.

The door slammed open, and a giant of a man appeared, glaring down at her. "What is it?" he demanded, cold.

Nana smiled brightly, all traces of nervousness and frustration gone from her face. She shifted on her feet childishly. "Hirota-san said I could come pet the kitties!" she exclaimed.

You could hear the cats meowing, somewhere in another room. He glared down at her, before silently moving to slam the door shut.

Sister grabbed the door before he could. Her blank face, eyes hidden behind her shades, was terrifying and beautiful all at once. "Excuse us," she said blandly. "Is Hirota-san at home? We only want to see the cats."

"He's not here," the Giant said, rudely pushing Sister's hand off the door and slamming it shut.

They both stared at the door, silent.

"What shall we do now?" Sister asked.

Nana laughed hysterically, and began ringing the doorbell again.

—

They had to wait for the landlady to finally come to get any sort of closure. "I don't see why you're so insistent," the landlady was saying, as she was opening the door, "I'm sure it's nothing."

"But that guy was so scary!" Nana whined, in true child-fashion. "What if he hurt the kitties?"

The landlady sighed, but finally opened the door. "Sorry for the intrusion, Hirota-san! Are you here? There's a little miss asking for you..." she trailed off. "Oh my..."

"Ma'am?"

"Stay back here, little miss," the landlady told her, face ashen white. She turned toward Sister. "Could you call the police? Tell them there's been a suicide."

Nana and Sister exchanged a look. They were too late.

—

"Aaaargh! We were so close, too!"

Sister pushed up her shades, silent.

"We could have stopped them. But if we had... if the Org had noticed..." She rolled over, laying face down on the carpet. "...would have only made it more dangerous for both us, and those guys..."

They were back home, now, in the living room. Sister was sitting at the table, unreadable behind her sunglasses. Nana was rolling around on the ground, groaning and moaning at their failure.

"I don't know what else I could've done," she was saying, trying to justify herself. "If it'd been only me, I would have barged in— ah, but then again, that Giant could have tried to kill me, and I wouldn't be able to save her, then... If I'd tried the police, then it would have gotten both of them arrested, and I'm pretty sure the Org has reach in both the police and prison..." She sighed. "What else could have I done? Tell the detective?" She scoffed. "Yeah, right!"

A pause.

She sat up. "Wait."

Sister looked at her inquisitively.

"I could just tell him," Nana told her. "I mean, he's like super smart or something, so his plans would work, right? Better than mine, in any case." She snickered, a bit hysterically. "Not that that's a high standard, anyway."

"Why didn't you tell him, then?"

"Dunno," she admitted. "Well, no, I know why I didn't— it's just... I _could_ have, but I didn't, 'cuz I was afraid." She sighed, rolling onto her back. "And now, because _I_ was _afraid_ , someone died..." She sighed deeply, again.

Another pause.

"I will see to prepare dinner," Sister said, getting up. In seconds only, she was out of the room.

"And!" Nana exclaimed to the empty room, throwing her hands up. "I can't even _try_ to save the Giant, because I don't even _know_ where he is!" She laughed hysterically. "Oh, that's just _great_! Fat lot of good I am!"

—

They once again began waiting for hours in front of the Agency.

"Let's hope this goes better," Nana was muttering, face hidden behind a cup of soda Sister had bought her. They were talking through the phone (there weren't many parking places next to the Agency, but they still needed the car, so Sister was forced to park farther away).

Nana had already transformed into what she thought was the closest to Akemi she could manage (she didn't know her face perfectly, after all, having only seen it once). She was even wearing the clothes they had prepared, although she had also slipped on a long coat, in order to avoid Conan recognizing her later.

"I think I saw your little friend running out," Sister warned.

"Oh?" She straightened, turning around. Indeed, Conan was running off, probably toward Agasa's house. "No, not now. We have to wait a little longer." Her knees were bouncing from the stress.

Sister hummed noncommittally.

About half an hour later, Conan returned, still running, only to run out of the Agency once more, minutes later. This time, however, he was followed by Ran, Kogoro, and the pretty-eyes detective.

"Let's follow them," Nana said, watching as they called for a taxi.

Sister made a confirmation noise, arriving moments later with the car. Nana slipped inside without a sound.

—

"Thanks, Nee-chan," Nana said, unbuckling herself. "I'll call you later to tell you what to do."

"Please be safe," Sister said, and Nana slipped out of the car, nervously slipping her hair behind her ear.

Akemi wasn't back out yet, but Conan, Kogoro and Ran had already slipped inside the hotel. She hurried toward the line waiting for a taxi, and waited for Akemi to arrive.

Although it mustn't have taken longer than five minutes, Nana felt as if she had waited for a lifetime when Akemi finally walked out of the hotel, pushing a cart full of luggages.

She waited a little longer, until Akemi was ready to slip into the taxi, in order to avoid talking to Akemi while there were that many witnesses. With a bright smile at the other people waiting for their taxi — who, no doubt, thought her Akemi's twin, and so, let her get in without protest — she slipped inside the taxi.

"Hey, sis," she said almost jokingly to Akemi's gaping face. "How are you doing?"

Akemi continued to gape. "Are you..." She glanced at the taxi driver, her hands tightening nervously, and hushed down her voice to a whisper, "are you... _Vermouth_?"

 _Vermouth_...?! Why— oh... yeah, the disguise. Vermouth was famous for being able to disguise herself, and Nana currently bore Akemi's own face.

This was certainly unexpected — how come Akemi, a low member of the Black Org, knew about one the highest member? —, but in the end it would probably be for the best. She gave the best cocky smirk she could offer. "Something like that."

"D-did the plan change, then?" You had to give her credit, for accepting this at face value. Akemi did her best to put on a brave face, although the trembling of her hands was unmistakable.

She hummed noncommittally, trying to change her plan to fit this new narrative. "I will be stopping at the planned meeting place, while you will be going elsewhere." She fished out a notebook, and wrote Uncle Saburo's address on a torn piece of it. She needed to warn Sister about the change of plan, too, but it probably would freak Akemi out if she called her now. She'd just need to do it after the whole death scene. "Don't worry about those two," was she talking about Gin and Vodka, or Conan and Ran? She herself wasn't sure, "I will take care of them."

With that said, Nana slipped her the torn piece of paper.

Akemi looked confused beyond belief, but (presumably) her fear of Vermouth made her nod nonetheless. "I— Alright... My sister—"

"Don't worry, we'll talk about her later." Nana smiled comfortingly. "Now, as soon as I am out of the car, go to this address, alright?"

—

Although nervewracking, facing Gin and Vodka was almost exhilirating in its simplicity. The only trouble she encountered was finding the meeting point: she wandered around, trying to find any sign of Gin or Vodka's presence.

Suddenly, a voice rung out from behind her. "Good work, Hirota Masami. No..." Ever the dramatic one, Gin let his voice trail off. "Miyano Akemi..."

Nana looked at him, silent, trying not to show any sign of amusement, and only a flash of nervousness and confidence. Honestly, the nervousness wasn't faked. There was a buzzing, constant noise around Gin and Vodka. A cortege of ghosts, twisting in pain, raking their nails around their own skin... She forced her gaze away from them.

"You killed him," she accused, forcing herself to think about the Cat Man and the Giant's deaths. Deaths she hadn't been good enough to prevent. Would their ghosts come to her, now? "Why?"

"Hmpf," Gin scoffed, smirk still in place. "That's the Organization's way of doing things... Well then, hand over the money."

"It's not here," she revealed. "But if you bring my little sister here, I'll tell you where the money is..."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Gin said, his ever present smirk on his face. "Since she's one of the few brains in the Organization... Unlike you, she's necessary."

She shifted on her feet, glaring at him. She wished she could do something for Haibara, but... she couldn't possibly infiltrate the Organization — where would she even begin? She didn't even know how to infiltrate a street gang, so there was no way she could do anything about a large scale organization like the Black Org. Haibara would have to wait... or to escape on her own, of course.

Gin pointed his gun at her, menacing. The metal of the pistol glinted. "Last chance... Say where the money is..."

She remained silent, trying to speed things up. If Conan and Ran arrived before she could leave... How could she possibly excuse her surviving a bullet wound?

"Fine. I told you, didn't I? That this was your last chance..."

Without another word, Gin shot her, the gun making a little thud noise that indicated it had a silencer on.

 _Still_ trying not to show any sign of amusement, Nana collapsed, folding onto her stomach to keep both Gin and Vodka from noticing there was no blood coming out of her supposed wound.

Face down in the dirt, she waited until the footsteps and the ghosts' shrieks had , she pushed herself up, looked at the spotless, bloodless ground, and thought about Conan and Ran, and the police and the medics that were no doubt coming her way.

"Oh my God!" Nana exclaimed softly. "I forgot to bring a corpse!"

—

 **AN** : So... maybe you weren't expecting that beginning. Sorry if it disappoints, but here's what the whole point of the story comes in: ghosts! let's get spooky! :) Honestly, this story revolves so much about death I'm trying to get worried about my own mental health... :) :) :)  
And FINALLY! This is out of the way! Gosh, almost 3 full chapters on just that? Akemi, sweetie, you're starting to seriously annoy me. :I

I edited some of the older chapters. You can go check them out if you want. They're not changed that much, but there still are some different things. I listed the changes at the end of each chapters.  
By the way, I know that Nana is somewhat bland, and I'd really like to give her more of a personality, but we have to wait a little longer. :)

Once more, I'd like to thank all my lovely readers for the support! Even if you don't comment or don't even favorite/follow, you're still dear to me! And, of course, thank you for your patience!

To _oldspacecadet3_ : Thank you for leaving a review once more! I was so glad to see another of your comment. Don't know if you'll still be here, considering how long I took to update again... Anyway, you understood what I was going for with Nana's transformations, so kudos to you! :)


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